Any pregnant ladies in dangerous jobs?

telly

Are there any ladies who are or were pregnant and worked at dangerous jobs such as law enforcement or nurses or truck driving etc? how did you manage? when did you stop working and did you voluntarily stop working or did the doctor take you out? just trying to see other perspectives as for i am a sheriff deputy and very much love my job and have no problems doing it. Also i do have a belly.

TxMoms2B

I'm a nurse, but I don't consider my job dangerous. I worked until 32 weeks, then I got put on desk duty cuz my BP went way up. I just charged in my unit and triaged patients, no hands on. But I was at work when I noticed I was leaking amniotic fluid at 39 weeks 4 days. I went home and then just drove back to the hospital later that evening.

Zen

My job was dangerous only to my sanity but on all the TV shows, pregnant cops get put on desk duty by their 2nd trimester. Hope your precinct is supportive of your pregnancy. And if you're ever working in Florida, please let me out of my traffic ticket!

Ms.Kate

My job is not "dangerous" but there are potential hazards for a pregnant woman. I work in a cat shelter - my duties aren't really ever to be around cat poo but in the past there were certainly times I was around it, scooping it, etc. My coworkers are fine to help me. I also find now I have to sometimes ask for help lifting multiple cats in carriers, big cat trees, other heavy equipment, etc. Mainly so far my biggest compaint is all the smells - we keep an immaculately clean shelter, but I encounter urine, vomit and other unpleasant smells on a daily basis. I REALLY hope I don't get M/S.
I think do what feel right for YOU. If you find you're just incredibly uncomfortable or scared of the danger, then take a break. And don't be afraid to ask others for help if you need it. I hope they are nice to you!

telly

i have sat with patients in hospitals who were crazy whetha high or drunk or mentally unstable who nurses had to tussle with or got hit because the patient wanted to leave but couldnt. or ems workers who lift heavy objects. Or like ms kate whos environment was just hazardous such as hospitals to. No one has made any deal everyone seems happy and non judgemental. Im in my 2nd trimester and i know by law the doctor is the only one who can take me out of work or advise light duty so im happy with that. I would just love to work until i physically cant any mre such as being in pain etc.

Chrysanthemum

I was a psych nurse up until Nov and I did worry because I had been attacked by pts in the past now I am in the icu and don't really anticipate a problem.

njmomma

I am a nurse. At one of my jobs I work with psychiatric patients. So far everything been good. I do feel comfortable around my patients and I am never alone with them (its not a hospital environment but a group home environment, and they are the same patients , so I've known them for a long time). But if you feel that your health is in danger or your baby's health is danger, try to talk to your supervisor, because safety should be always number one priority. You should do what feels right for you. And just like Ms Kate said, don't be afraid to ask others for help, I find that people are usually nice to pregnant women and they are usually very willing to help out the woman with a belly.

Kari

I'm a teacher, and I found that my OB never questioned if my job had difficult aspects to it. Half the week I work at a very small school that has a large life-skills class of autistic and behavioral students. What I found was that the teachers and ed techs did a great job protecting me, so if a kid was having a tantrum in the hallway, they kind of created a physical barrier between the child and myself so I couldn't get attacked. I would ask one of the male teachers for help carrying around heavy computer equipment or monitors (I'm the computer tech/teacher/integrationist) and tried to get a lot of those types of jobs done early in the pregnancy. Because of the risk of radiation from the old CRT monitors, I would have the students shut down all the computers and I would do my tech integration work from the staff room when I had large breaks between classes. When I had recess duty during the winter, the other person on duty with me would move around the playground more so I wasn't walking on the ice as much or scaling the hills of snow when monitoring the kids. I just kind of made things work however I could, but if there were things I felt would have truly been risky to myself, I would have made my OB aware of them and specifically asked if it's okay that I continue doing them or if I should get a note to be released from those duties.

telly

wow njmamma you are 28 wks already! you was just like 12 wks! but since my pregnancy i have been very cautious. very over protective but i do deal with the same people so i know pretty much what to expect from who. And my co workers are very cool and caring. thanx ladies!

telly

yea @kari but i go to most of my appointments in uniform in full gear vest cuffs gun n more. Nothing was said. Im kind of happy because i love working and my job.

njmomma

I agree, telly, time does fly! I can't beleive you are 17 weeks pregnant already. I really love my job too and I am planning to stay there for as long as I can and to continue working until I am close to my delivery date. I have a feeling my water will break while I will be at my job. Good luck with everything!

Lauran

When I was pregnant with my son, I worked on an automotive assembly line, which required constant walking/bending/stooping over/reaching up over my head, climbing in and out of cars, etc...I started having 10-15 Braxton Hicks per hour at around 22 weeks. Even though the contractions weren't causing actual preterm labor, I was put on short term disability for the rest of the pregnancy. (There was no such thing as "light duty" at that place--you either did your full job, or you went home.)

telly

thanks ladies for not being judgemental. My family and close friends want me to get light duty. But i love what i do and until i have any complication im going to work. Maternity uniforms are made for not wearing your vest and has the belly band so you cannot wear your duty belt. so i just have to wear bigger uniforms. i wish they made the maternity uniforms so i can at least wear my gun cuffs and mace. That is the only part i kind of not like but i have many more months to go!

annerbones

I would consider my job dangerous during pregnancy - Preschool teacher - I am not pregnant yet but I am going to be ttc next week. I have already been hit and kicked in the stomach this year, along with the mold in my classroom. Once I am pregnant I will be removed from my classroom because of the mold.

lolabel

I think it's great you're working as deputy sheriff with a pregnant belly! As my doctor said to me: pregnancy is a state of health, not illness! As a college prof., except for annoyance, stress, paper cuts, and a subway commute there wasn't much dangerous about my job, but have you seen Fargo? Francis MacDormand plays a pregnant deputy in it who is investigating a bungled murder. She's fantastic!

hopingforbabymc

My husband is a deputy sheriff and a few of the female deputies have gotten pregnant. Just about all of them were put in dispatch or light office duties. I think the last one worked till she didn't feel comfortable wearing her vest and then asked for lighter duty. They held her position on the shift and she's had her baby and is now back on patrol.

LK

I think I would be most worried about the gun belt. If you feel like you are in a bad position Taz their *ss. My DP has been an officer for almost 19 year and in that entire time only one woman got pregnant (twice--she is only one of three women officer's). Karen was on the road until her uniform didn't fit her anymore. They are so strict about uniform's there it's crazy. When her uniform got too small she had to wear black and was stuck behind a desk. They have weigh--in's every three months and you can only EVER be 10lbs or less than the amount you weighed when you got hired--no exceptions. Karen did gain more than 10lbs with both her pregnancies and she got "fat letters" both times. 1st it's a letter, 2nd you get "spoken to" and it goes in your eval. 3rd you get fired. I am sure it can be fought but it's right in the by-laws.

Good luck and congrats!!!

im2ts

I'm not pg yet but I am worried about my job a lot. I am a black jack dealer and am around smoke and drunk players all day long. That and all the bending over the tables make me nervous as well. I just hope I can work as long as I can because they are very strict about how much time I can take off. I do love my job it is a lot of fun and don't want to loose it if I have to go out.

CRWHNW0909

telly wrote:

Are there any ladies who are or were pregnant and worked at dangerous jobs such as law enforcement or nurses or truck driving etc? how did you manage? when did you stop working and did you voluntarily stop working or did the doctor take you out? just trying to see other perspectives as for i am a sheriff deputy and very much love my job and have no problems doing it. Also i do have a belly.

Wouldn't you be put on light duty when they found out you were pregnant? I find in hard to believe you would be performing the same job functions without any restrictions during pregnancy. That is a liability for the city. Unless you lived in the town of Mayberry, I just don't see how you weren't put on light duty.
Just saying.

lippysaunt

My friend is a cop and she was put on light duty the minute she told them she was pregnant. It was a liability for the department to have a pregnant cop on the job....

telly

Working jobs and how long while pregnant is up to that mother and her doc. not you or any one else. And i do wear my duty belt. Lol i know women who worked up til their 8th month on the road as state troopers. Let alone sued and won because their boss took then out of work because they were pregnant. If you can do it do it. I am not here to tel another person what to do and what not to do while pregnant. And after having my baby im going straight back to work. Matter of a fact you need to read a pregnant police woman forums and tell them some bs about them working full time while pregnant. The women who are put on light duty because they wanted to go or doc made them. smh that is all i can do to you.

annerbones

I agree that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that as a pregnant woman you would potentially put yourself in harms way. I am not in law enforcement but if I was.in an potential danger as a pregnant woman I would ask for light.duty. considering it is not just your life but your unborn child's.

A lot of what you have said over the last few months weeks contradictory. It makes us feel like you are lying to us. It has happened to us before and we don't like it.

Flowergirl

I have to agree (and I will do this as kindly as I can here) with others who have indicated that it isn't as much the fact that you are saying many things that don't seem plausible (I'm not saying you're lying - just that some of it is hard to believe), as it is that most of us here are here because we have had to go to extra lengths to have a baby, and we would do anything for our hard earned baby, whether born or unborn. It's hard for us to understand who wouldn't put their baby's safety first and why not?? Will you also put your baby to sleep on their tummy from birth and lay them in the backseat of your car without a car seat, while careening through traffic in a high speed chase? Again, not trying to be mean - just trying to make a point.

When you become pregnant, it's no longer about what you like or want, and all about what is best for the baby - actually I should say it should be that way, and especially if a person is purposely getting pregnant, that child should absolutely no questions asked, be of first and foremost importance IMO. No matter how much we love something - a job, a car, a friend... if that love was going to be potentially hazardous to our baby, and we had the option to have that risk removed from our life, we would all do it - no questions asked.

I'm not judging you for your decision or your choices... but you're upset that everyone isn't jumping on your bandwagon. It's a public forum - if we ask for opinions, we have to be prepared for all types of responses. You are trying to defend your job now, saying it isn't that dangerous - but you yourself posted this topic "any pregnant ladies in dangerous jobs?".

kitty

Its not true that only a doctor can remove you from work. ASK ANY AIRLINE ATTENDANT@ ANY AIRLINE.... once you make that 24 weeks thats its it... you are grounded! ie.. out of work honey! Doctor can not say your ok to fly.