I told work very early, at 5 weeks because I was so sick. I thought I was doing the right thing just in case I had to take time off - I'm never sick. Even though we have a great team, my supervisors panicked and starting asking lots of questions over subsequent weeks about how much maternity leave I planned to take, would I be coming back to work part time, saying I would be difficult to replace and it was an awkward time of year - and that our yearly plans would be impacted. Keep in mind that I haven't even had my first scan yet and I'm now 13 weeks. I felt stressed and like I was creating a personnel problem.

I was also told that a senior supervisor would need to be told now and this actually happened although I didn't find out for weeks later. I was personally hurt because I have friends that I hadn't told at that stage. At first I thought I was overreacting, but a colleague of mine talked to me about the comments that had been made, and felt so strongly about it that she said that if I didn't say something, she would.

Although it was horrible making an issue out of it, the comments and questions have now stopped. I put my issue in writing so there was no room for error or misunderstanding.

This is my first pregnancy and I would never tell my employer this early again, I'd wait to at least 4 or 5 months. My organisation is primarily made of women in the health sector, has family friendly policies and this kind of reaction was *incredibly unexpected* which is why I would urge some caution unless you feel absolutely certain about how your work will react.

I certainly don't think the reaction was deliberate, but my supervisors just clearly didn't understand the pressure they were placing on me. Having not experienced pregnancy themselves I can of course understand this, but I couldn' t let the comments continue.

I'm glad to hear that many others have had more positive experiences though. ;-)