Does Work Put Your Baby at Risk for Premature Birth?
Expectant moms with physically taxing jobs face a conundrum. Scale back hours and duties to protect your unborn child, or tough it out so nobody thinks you're asking for special favors. Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to ask for accommodation? If employers proactively created family-friendly environments for expectant and new mothers?
Today is National Prematurity Awareness Day, an opportune time to highlight the March of Dimes' 14 standards for workplaces to do just that -- from providing prenatal care information to accommodating doctor's appointments. The group also published a terrific set of tips for pregnant working moms. Employers and other private insurers could save over $7 billion a year in hospital bills if preterm births were eliminated, the March of Dimes estimated.
Moms, when you were expecting, did you make any changes in your work situation to protect against premature birth and ensure a healthy baby? Did you get any flak for it?
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Not a mom here, but my wife, an OB/GYN resident who works 80-plus hours a week, worked until the day our second son was born. And he went full-term. Our first was a month early despite a much less taxing schedule, so we were certain the second would be early as well. Guess it shows you never can tell.