Pregnant 9-to-5: What to Expect at Work When You’re Expecting

Let's face it, as happy as you may be about your pregnancy, being pregnant is not always easy! You're tired, often sick, uncomfortable, and wondering what strange and miraculous changes your body is going to surprise you with each day. Put working full-time, or even part-time, on top of all of that and it's absolutely natural to experience anxieties.

How can you alleviate the added stress of working through your pregnancy? Here are some helpful tips to consider.

Is it safe for you to continue working?

These are not the days of our parents. Women today are encouraged to work through their pregnancies, most up until their time of delivery. More than half of pregnant women today work outside the home and do it successfully; however, there could be safety issues if you work for a company that manufactures or uses hazardous chemicals, or if your job requires out-of-the-ordinary physical activity. It's up to you, as the parent, to make any fetal-risk decisions, but it's wisest to do this with the help of your physician or midwife.

If your job requires you to stand for more than three hours per day, engage in heavy lifting, work around extremely loud machinery, or participate in radical shift changes, your doctor may want you to change responsibilities temporarily or monitor your pregnancy more closely.

For any concerns you have about work safety during pregnancy, be sure to visit the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website or the Center for Disease Control website.