Chorevia

Day 96 of 280 · 13 weeks + 5 days

The risk assessment

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 6 sources · Plain-text version

Once work knows, you can ask for your job to be looked at. Today you write the one-paragraph request and the three things you need changed.

Size this week
about the size of a peach
Length this week
around 7.4 cm from head to bottom
A woman in a loose blouse and flat shoes at a stockroom counter, one hand on a stack of boxes, typing a note on her phone, fluorescent light softened by a high window, the faintest hint of a bump.

Thirteen weeks and five days. If your manager knows, today you put the ask in writing. If they don't yet, you write it anyway, so it's ready the day they do.

Your baby

One ripe peach on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around now your baby is around 7.4cm long, about the size of a peach (NHS). The movements are becoming more deliberate, though you probably won't feel them until around week 17 (NHS).

Your body

In the UK, once you've told your employer you have maternity rights, can attend antenatal appointments during paid work time, and can ask for a workplace risk assessment (NHS). The US rules are different and yours to look up, but MedlinePlus describes the same physical asks: most women are advised to lift only objects under 20 pounds (9 kilograms); if you stand for long stretches, ask for 15 minutes of sitting for every hour of standing; routine bathroom breaks may lower the risk of a urinary infection, and compression stockings may reduce leg swelling (MedlinePlus).

Some jobs carry exposures to name: MedlinePlus lists giving hair treatments (the hands absorb the chemicals), lead in smelting, battery and glass making, printing, ceramics, pottery glazing, toll booths and busy roads, and flying time for flight crews (MedlinePlus). Most pregnant women can keep working, some until delivery (MedlinePlus); the assessment is how it stays that way.

Try today

  1. The risk-assessment request

    Time: 15 minutes

    1. Write one paragraph: that you're pregnant, roughly when you're due, and that you'd like your role reviewed for anything that needs changing. Asking for a workplace risk assessment is on the NHS's list for this week (NHS).

    2. Under it, the three things you need changed. Pick from MedlinePlus's list: no lifting over 20 pounds, sitting breaks when you stand, bathroom breaks when you need them (MedlinePlus).

    3. Add any exposure that applies to you: hair chemicals, lead, flying (MedlinePlus).

    4. Add that you'll need time for antenatal appointments, with the dates you already have (NHS).

    5. Send it in writing, and keep a copy.

    Make it work:

    If you haven't told work yet, the NHS says you don't have to for several more weeks (NHS). Write it today anyway and save it as a draft.

Watch for

  • Normal

    swollen hands and feet by the end of a shift; they're on this week's NHS list (NHS).

    Call your provider

    about leg swelling that comes with headaches or high blood pressure, which can signal preeclampsia (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    tingling hands at the keyboard; carpal tunnel symptoms are often from extra fluid and usually improve after birth (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider

    to check any persistent numbness, tingling, or weakness in an arm or leg (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    a backache from standing.

    Call your provider

    for severe belly pain that doesn't go away (CDC).

For you

If the answer is slow, send it again with the date of the first one at the top. You're not asking for a favour; you're asking for a review, and a reasonable employer would rather have it in writing.

Work stress is on the list too. MedlinePlus's advice: talk with a partner or friend, keep your prenatal care, eat well, stay active, sleep enough, and raise persistent stress with your provider (MedlinePlus). One thing never to reach for at work: Motrin, Advil, Aleve and other NSAIDs, which MedlinePlus says not to take while pregnant (MedlinePlus).

If you're the partner: read the paragraph before she sends it, and offer to be the one who chases the reply.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

Get each day’s note the morning it applies

Add your due date to a free Chorevia household, and every morning until the birth the day's note arrives in the app and by email: what's forming, what your body is doing, one thing to try, what to watch for, and a word for you.

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