Working while pregnant and planning your return to work

Working while pregnant: tips for managing pregnancy symptoms

Working while pregnant – especially during the early months – can be tricky if you’re going through morning sickness and feeling very tired.

There are 3 key things you can do to manage these symptoms:

• Eat small, regular, healthy meals and snacks.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Rest as much as possible.

You might also be able to make changes at work and home to better look after yourself. Here are ideas.

At work

• Take regular breaks if you can, even if it’s only a few minutes at a time.
• Wear comfortable shoes and clothes. Some women find wearing compression stockings or socks helps with tired legs.
• Try to relax at work by doing 5-minute mindfulness exercises or breathing exercises.
• Avoid standing all day. Sit down when you can to relieve back and leg pain.

At home

• Try to get enough rest and sleep. Use bedtime routines and make yourself comfortable in bed with pillows or rolled blankets.
• Make time each day to do things that you find relaxing, like reading, going for a walk or listening to podcasts.
• Ask for and accept help from family and friends. Support from people around you can give you more time to rest.
• Do regular physical activity to improve your sleep, boost your energy, ease back pain and more.
• Pre-cook and freeze meals, so you don’t have to cook as often. This is great for days when you’re very tired.

You can talk to your midwife or doctor about more ways to manage your pregnancy symptoms. And it’s important to check with your doctor before taking any new medicine.

Working through pregnancy: tips

Here are things you can do to make working while pregnant a comfortable and positive experience.

Making things easier

• Consider what could make your life easier at work – for example, travelling to work outside of peak hour, having a temporary car space or working from home.
• Try to plan meetings so people come to you. Or you could set up video calls.
• If you’re a pregnant casual worker or you have flexible hours, let your manager know what your ideal working hours are. For example, if you work best after 11 am when morning sickness has eased, your employer might be able to give you these hours.
• Think ahead about how to respond to tricky situations. For example, people might comment on or even touch your belly. It’s OK to tell people not to do this if it makes you uncomfortable.

Organising things at work

• Depending on your job, you might need to let your colleagues, workmates and/or clients know how your role might change.
• Start planning a handover by noting the parts of your job that you’ll need to give to others when you’re on leave. Schedule training and handover activities well in advance so you don’t find yourself doing too much or getting stressed before going on leave.
• If things don’t go to plan and you’re feeling overwhelmed, tell your manager and discuss ways to manage your workload.

Going to pregnancy appointments

• Schedule medical appointments and time off in advance, where possible.
• Ask your midwife or doctor about local clinics and health services that are open at convenient times for you, like outside business hours.
• If you’re a casual or shift worker, you might be able to work public holidays to make up for income you lose when you take time off for appointments. Public holidays usually offer a higher rate of pay.
• Try not to feel guilty about taking time off for appointments or taking sick leave when you’re unwell. You’re entitled to it.

Your employer is responsible for creating a safe workplace for you during your pregnancy. This might involve talking with your manager about changing your work responsibilities. And if your job isn’t safe while you’re pregnant, you have a right to a different job. Find out more about your pregnancy and work rights and entitlements.

Planning your return to work

Many working parents say they wish they’d thought more about preparing for their return to work before going on parental leave. This can make the experience of returning to work more positive and less stressful.

Planning is great, but bear in mind that your ideas and plans might change after you give birth. You might want to stay at home longer than you first thought or return to work earlier than planned.

There are laws about returning to work after parental leave, so you’ll need to discuss your return with your employer. It’s a good idea to give yourself time to think, talk and negotiate.

You can find out more at Fair Work Ombudsman – After parental leave.

Here are tips to help you plan your return to work while you’re pregnant.

Work and family considerations

• Think about your career goals, family arrangements and work-life balance. This can help you work out your ideal return to work, which you can discuss with your employer.
• Talk with your partner, if you have one, about when you want to return to work and what this means for your partner and family.
• Talk with your partner, if you have one, about whether they might take time off work after your baby is born and how you plan to share the child care when you return to work.
• Plan a family support network. Your network might include your family, friends and people in your community.

Practical matters

• Think about your financial situation. For example, it can be useful to calculate in advance how long you can afford not to do paid work. It might help to do a family budget.
• Check whether you’re eligible for government parenting payments.
• Look at child care options, if you plan to use child care. You might need to put your child’s name on a waiting list before your baby is born. You could also look into using a nanny or ask about grandparents caring for your child.
• Look into parent and family services and other support for parents.
• Consider ways to make your daily and weekly routine easier, like ordering groceries online or having a child care pick-up roster.

Work arrangements

• Check your employment contract and find out what your rights are.
• Talk with your employer about staying in touch with your workplace during your leave. Many employers have informal arrangements (including intranet access) or more formal events like return to work seminars. While you’re on unpaid parental leave, you can do up to 10 days paid work to keep in touch – for example, to get familiar with changed systems or get used to work again.
• Talk about return to work options with your employer, including new or more flexible work arrangements or roles – for example, part-time arrangements. Usually your employer must think about this thoroughly and come to a reasonable decision. Think about where you might be able to compromise or negotiate.
• Talk with your employer about breastfeeding at work, including facilities where you can breastfeed, express breastmilk and/or refrigerate breastmilk, and times when you can have a break to breastfeed.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has a lot of practical information about parental leave.