Figure out if you need to adjust your responsibilities.
Plan to make arrangements to adjust your work obligations until you are prepared to deliver if you have a physically demanding or stressful job, are exposed to potentially harmful chemicals, or are exposed to other workplace hazards. This is definitely where those private conversations with coworkers who have already been pregnant on the job will come in handy: can you swap some responsibilities with one of your coworkers or take on a different role until you have your baby?
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Plan for coverage while you’re out.
Consider how your work will get done while you are on vacation. It’s wise to arm yourself with a list of suggestions and solutions for how your job can be managed in your absence because your boss’s first reaction might be to panic about the workload rather than congratulate you on your unborn child.
Email to send to HR after you speak to them and let them know you are pregnant (follow-up)
SUBJECT: HR Conversation
Hi {INSERT NAME OF HR POINT OF CONTACT},
I appreciate your encouragement and well wishes for my current pregnancy. As you are aware, I just finished my first trimester of pregnancy, and I still have about six months to go. I will be sharing my news with the rest of the team and leadership over the coming weeks now that I have survived the perilous first few months.
I am assuming, based on our conversation, that you would prefer to be present when I inform our CEO and other senior executives that I am pregnant. I’ll let you know when I schedule our meeting. Within the next month, I hope to have a draft of my maternity leave plan ready for you to review. It will serve as a “road map” of all of my responsibilities for us to follow between now and the time I return from maternity leave. I’ll also let you know when I schedule my anticipated doctor’s appointments.
I anticipate receiving information about pregnancy and other HR issues, such as how to file for FMLA status and submit a short-term disability application. I’ll make sure you receive a copy of any emails that might be related to my workload.
Please let me know if you have any other queries or worries.
My office number is XXX-XXX-XXXX, and my personal mobile number is XXX-XXX-XXXX.