First year teacher and pregnant...?

Question

This is my first year to teach. I am teaching elementary age children. I am 7 weeks pregnant. When should I tell my principal and other co-workers? It's so hard not to say anything, but I really would like to be past my 12 week mark before we tell anyone.

Answer 1

I'd tell them at the start of your second trimester OR if your symptoms interfere with your work.  For example, if you are getting morning sickness until 10am each day then they will probably have to know.  I think by telling them early in your second trimester you will give them time to plan for your absence and shows that you care about making their lives easier by giving them time to plan.  

Congrats!

Answer 2

You have some important things to think about....

1.  Are you planning on taking a short leave perhaps several months to one school year, or are you leaving the profession to become a stay at home mom?

2.  Are you married because if you aren't and are pregnant - be careful.. some parents are super judgemental and it will be hard enough being a first year teacher.

Yikes - first year and pregnant. You are going ot have a tough job. It is already VERY hard your first year because you are getting used to the school and the grade and to toss in a pregnancy will make it especially challenging.  Some schools - maybe not yours - put you on probabation your first 2 years. If you are pregnant and planning on taking a leave, you may not have a job when you decide to come back on what would have been your 3rd year.

My suggestion would be to wait until 4 months into your pregnancy and until them do everything inyour power to win over your parents, your teaching peers and your principal. It will make the blow easier when telling them. Even though your baby should come first and this is a joyful occassion for your family, they have a school to run and children to worry about so there may be some decisions that come up in the future where they are keeping them and not you on the forefront.

Answer 3

Ok.I'm going to put myself in the principal's position here. If I know you are pregnant, I can start laying some ground work. Telling them Now would be nice, but, I understand where you are coming from, but, I also thing I would want my staff's support, IE fellow teachers. this is a tough call. I see both sides. You just need to make your decision and let it happen. I'm a "turn the apple around kind of guy". What if, god forbid, something happens. Do you want their support then or now? I'd want it now so that if something did happen, I'd have my "safety net".

Answer 4

Do you have a sense of how understanding your principal might be?  I'm a university dean, and if one of my faculty tells me they are pregnant, I see that as a pretty normal thing, and while yes, it can be a bit inconvenient, I would completely respect their right to wait 12 weeks before telling me (assuming they aren't planning on going on maternity leave immediately).  I do have older, male colleagues, though, who may not quite get it, and it could come back to bite the faculty member.

Alternatively, if you are worried about how the principal might react, you could tell him/her, but ask that it be kept confidential until 12 weeks (give her/him a date), when you have had a chance to tell your family.  Your co-workers don't have to know before your family does.

Answer 5

What everyone said so far is nice - but you MUST check your contract.  I got pregnant my first year teaching (I happily find out over December vacation).  Some contracts REQUIRE you to tell certain people in your building (principal) and district (human resources) by a certain point in your pregnancy (mine was at the beginning of my third trimester).  My contract even went so far as requiring me to tell them when I would leave and when I would return.  Ludicrous (after all how do you know when the baby will decide it wants to arrive)?  Yes, it was, but a necessity none-the-less.  

I told everyone from my department head, to my co-workers and students as soon as we returned from vacation (even though I was less than 12 weeks in) since I had "morning sickness' all day, and in a MAJOR way.  I needed others to know that I might need emergency coverage at some points during the school day (which I did.  Oh, and my students - high school aged- were VERY understanding, and good for the remainder of the year).  Ultimately, you need to do what is right for you, AND within the parameters of your contract.  (With my second pregnancy I got to wait as I was not as sick.)    

Good luck and best wishes!

Answer 6

You have every right to wait until the end of the first trimester but then it is really important that you share the information with your principal and your union.  Replacing a teacher part way through the school year takes care and considerable planning because finding the right person is extremely important.  It is unlikely that you will have any say in your replacement is but I am sure that you will agree that you want the best for your kids in the classroom.

As an aside, what an excellent teacher tool and learning opportunity for your students.  Without impinging on your privacy try to include your class in some of the wonderful things that are happening with your pregnancy.  And by all means bring your new munchkin into the classroom at the end of the year for them to see the baby.  We have a program in our district where little babies are brought into classrooms by their parents and the students learn about some really important things.  The culmination in this program is when the kids write a note to the baby telling him or her what their hopes are for his/her life.  It teaches empathy, respect, gentleness and compassion.  The notes often tell of how they want the baby to always be loved, and have friends, and get a dog, and go on summer holidays with his or her mommy and daddy.  I have seen some of the notes that came from a colleague's class and they were truly special.