Ive been offered an awesome job but am 4.5 months pregnant.

[Astrid]

The hard thing is not knowing how well the pregnancy will go, how the birth will be and how bubs will be. I worked and studied upto 37 1/2 weeks, I was so tired by the end of it and only give a half hearted attempt to my study. I ended up with a c-section after a long labour and a lot of breast feeding troubles. Originally I thought I could do it all. I had planned to start working from home a few weeks after birth, well it took me almost 12 months before I could start working again mentally and also there was a lack of childcare. Childcare is a huge issue, everything may go well and you and bubs might be ready for you to work again after 6 weeks, but there may not be any childcare for you to do so. If you are lucky your employer may be flexible about bringing bubs to work. Good luck!

[shellbell]

Well, I applied for a job at 34 weeks and was offered it at 37 weeks - to top it off I am still working full time at my usual job until next week (39 + 5 days). I haven't had bub yet but my new employers are more than happy to wait for me to start work in July (they even offered flexible work arrangements!). I think you need to be honest with the employer as you won't qualify for maternity leave after being there for less than 40 weeks.

I appreciate what others have said about being at home with baby and as much as I would love to it simply isn't a financial option for us - don't feel bad about wanting it all, I beleive that it while it will be very hard it is certainly "do-able"!

good luck with your decision.

[TryingToDoItAll]

Thank you everyone for your useful advice.
I found out that I have to have a 'medical' before being offered the position so the decision on whether to accept this job may be taken out of my hands anyway.
I have decided however that if they still offer it to me once finding out that I am pregnant, I will greatfully accept and work my butt off until the baby comes to help them realise that 'the risk' was worth it.
Ive tried to book the baby into day care but they do not 'keep places' in Tasmania as apparently that might mean they have to knock someone else back that may come along between now and September - so I have a couple of places 'lined up' so to speak.

In an ideal world......id probably stay home with the baby until it was atleast 12 months but I simply cant afford to.....so its going to be a matter of juggling everything and making the best of the situation.

Id love to hear from other ladies who may have been in a similar situation at some stage in their lives - to hear about how you managed and what little things you may have done to make life more comfortable.

Thanks again all.

[Nai]

From a professional point of view if the industry is so short of workers then you will be employable on completion of your studies and bubs will be a little bit older. However, from a financial perspective I know that this doesn't always suit. So my advice would be to tell the potential employer straight up. You might also say that you are happy to work on a 5 month contract or whatever until your baby is born, stay in contact with them while taking time off and then once you are ready to return see if there is anything available.

That way you are being honest, giving them options and nobody is tied into anything they can't get out of. Most employers in candidate short markets these days are fairly flexible and can offer some alternatives that you may not have even thought of eg. they may have a deal with a childcare centre that gives priorites to employees of this company.