Navigating the Job Market While Pregnant – Challenges and Recommendations

There’s nothing like sitting through an interview while using the majority of your strength to fight back morning sickness.

It’s hard enough to secure a new job. Add in a pregnancy, and things reach an entirely new level. From balancing personal and work responsibilities to outlining your parental leave plan, there are a few hurdles non-expecting parents don’t have to worry about.

Understandably, you might be hesitant to navigate the job market with so much on your plate. Still, you should be able to pursue any goals you want. That’s why it’s best to be prepared, have a game plan, and advocate for yourself and your family.

If you’re in the market for your next role, here are some potential challenges to be aware of and resolutions to make getting a new job while pregnant a bit easier.

The Challenges of Job Hunting While Pregnant

Let’s get one thing settled from the start: it’s entirely possible to find a fantastic new job while pregnant. Parents have plenty of skills that expertly apply to both childcare and business situations.

That said, biases still exist, and certain issues can arise that throw you through a loop and make the job search harder. 

Maintaining Solid Income

In some cases, such as lay-offs, you aren’t left with much of a choice in pursuing a new job. In others, you may simply be unhappy in your current role. Either way, you need to ensure you’re going to have the income needed to support yourself, your little one, and your overall lifestyle.

A new role could very well come with a higher salary and better benefits. However, finding said role in a chaotic job market could take much longer than you anticipated. Some pregnant professionals may hold off—when possible—on searching for a new role to avoid a potential loss in finances.

This concern can also weigh more heavily based on where you live. 

Some countries offer paid leave for expecting parents, regardless of current employment. For example, Spain offers pregnant people 100% of their salary for up to 16 weeks of leave. In the United Kingdom, pregnant persons can receive 90% of their salary for 52 weeks, with Australia offering the national minimum wage for 22 weeks.

However, not all expecting parents have the same safety net. In the United States, the only federal leave policy that exists guarantees pregnant employees 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Ensuring paid leave depends entirely on the specific company you work for. This can deter parents from exploring new jobs lest they risk losing their income.

Healthcare Coverage

Pregnancy is an exciting time filled with memorable moments. It’s also filled with plenty of doctor’s appointments. From regular scans and glucose tests to labour and your child’s follow-up appointments, a lot goes into ensuring you and your baby stay healthy and safe.

Similar to parental leave, many pregnant residents have their healthcare covered through social programs and taxes. Yet, in countries with different healthcare systems, pursuing a new job while pregnant is a stressful task.

For instance, a majority of U.S. citizens receive healthcare coverage via their employers. A new job often means a new insurance provider, different copay and deductible costs, and a potential loss in coverage.

Even if U.S.-based employees accept an offer, health coverage may only apply once the person has been there for a certain amount of time. With rising healthcare costs, that’s a scary possibility to accept.

Employer Bias

There are more than 150 countries that offer protections that prevent people from being fired or mistreated for being pregnant. Unfortunately, there are also nearly 40 that don’t prohibit the dismissal of pregnant workers in their laws. 

Beyond that, internal bias still exists in plenty of workplaces. 

Dozens of questions can swirl around in your head as you move through interviews: “Will they think I wouldn’t do a good job just because I’m pregnant?” “Are my colleagues going to be frustrated when I take parental leave a few months in?” “Will my managers keep certain projects from me to avoid having to transfer them later on?”

Speaking to Angela Reina of Reina Smith Media Consulting, it’s clear these concerns—and how to address them—loom like a cloud over pregnant employees’ heads. “You’re always going to have that fear of how you’re going to be perceived, of your team thinking, ‘Now I have to take on that work when they’re out’.”

This bias isn’t just from your own anxieties. Studies show time and again that employees still struggle with pregnancy discrimination, even with laws in place banning that treatment. 

Finding Flexible Work

Every working professional knows that the first few months of a new job are some of the most critical. That’s the time to learn everything possible about the business, establish your skills, and get into the groove of things.

Pregnancy adds a few extra steps to the mix. 

You’re going through a lot of physical and emotional changes. You’re bouncing between doctor’s appointments and onboarding documents. And you’re hoping your new team supports you along the way.

While you may look for new roles that offer flexible working hours, to begin with, this becomes even more important when you’re pregnant. 

As a pregnant prospective employee, you need to spend a bit more time doing your due diligence to make sure you’re applying to organisations that offer the flexibility you need to support your journey to parenthood.

Deciding When to Disclose Your Pregnancy

Choosing to tell people about your pregnancy is a deeply personal decision. Especially if you’ve experienced complications in the past, you may be hesitant to tell anyone the happy news until you’re much farther along. That particularly applies to hiring managers and new employers.

Some people choose to wait until a certain point in their pregnancy. Others prefer to tell companies right off the bat. It’s different for everyone. Outside of your personal preferences, certain laws and rights can impact when you must disclose your pregnancy to a new employer. 

Some countries, like the United States and Australia, do not have any legal requirements surrounding pregnancy disclosure. Others, like the U.K., require you to inform your employer that you’re pregnant at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week your baby is due. These requirements can also impact your ability to take leave for prenatal appointments.

Weighing when to disclose can add another layer of stress to the job hunt for pregnant people.

Having the Energy to Apply

Let’s be honest: pregnancy is no walk in the park. There are hormone changes and brain fog and indigestion. It’s all exhausting enough to live with performing a job you’ve had for years.

But all the side effects of pregnancy plus the additional effort and stress of job hunting? Talk about a lot.

Researching open roles and the companies they’re at is super time-consuming. Then, you have to prepare for interviews and potentially move through cycles that require half a dozen meetings with the hiring team. If you get the job, there are weeks’ worth of onboarding tasks to complete before you can get comfortable in your new responsibilities. 

This, on top of other challenges, can have pregnant employees wondering if it’s worth pursuing a new role, if they really can nail down something with a tiny human on the way. 

Spoiler: you absolutely can.

Tips for Pursuing a New Job When You’re Pregnant

Parenthood should be a driver for pursuing career opportunities, not a hindrance. If you’re looking to secure a new job, there are a few things you can do to prepare and set yourself up to accept a role that best supports you and your growing family.

Research, Research, Research

The internet is your friend. As you begin your job search, check company websites and employee review sites to get a better idea of the type of culture different organisations offer—and what they don’t.

Scan through reviews to find mentions of how the business treats expecting employees. Look at company pages to see if there is any mention of standard benefits relating to parental leave. You may even find former or current employees who are willing to share their own experiences of working there.

You can also use this time to research the job market for your field. You may find that the current state of things is a bit more saturated or chaotic than you want to navigate. 

All this due diligence can inform your job hunt, so you’re only pursuing roles you’re excited about.

Ask the Right Questions During the Interview

You can tell a lot about a company based on how they interview. Even if you’re not ready to tell a recruiter or hiring manager about your pregnancy, ask certain questions about company policy and benefits.

Get information on:

• How the company supports working parents 
• Flexible work possibilities
• How managers handle transitions for employees taking parental leave

As you get those answers, you can better determine if that company is the right fit for what you’re looking for or if you’re better off searching elsewhere.

Decide When to Share Your Pregnancy

To reiterate, telling prospective employers or your new colleagues about your pregnancy is a big decision. It’s entirely up to you when you choose to do so, barring a few rules depending on where you live.

However, you will need to share the exciting news eventually. And while you may have a few concerns about mentioning it before you receive an official offer, there are some benefits to disclosing your pregnancy sooner rather than later.

If you disclose during the interview process, you:

• Show a level of transparency to hiring managers that builds trust
• Can have a more honest conversation about expectations within the role
• Negotiate benefits and salary more effectively for your family

You still may choose to wait until you begin your new role. Even so, the earlier you share your pregnancy, the more time you and your manager have to plan for your leave.

Create a Game Plan

As the saying goes, the best defence is a good offence. As you transition into your new role, take note of what processes or projects will need coverage once you begin your parental leave. 

Work with your supervisor to build out a plan for how the rest of your team can easily cover your work while you’re out and move those items back onto your plate when you return. 

You should also plan out an ideal timeline for when you’ll begin your leave. This way, your manager knows the deadline for when your plan needs to be fully in place before you take some much-deserved time to heal and bond with your new baby. 

Are there other challenges that surprised you as you navigated the job market while pregnant? Do you have advice for other expecting parents? Share it all in the comments!