Women-in-tech Need Pregnancy Leave
Yes, not maternity leave only, pregnancy leave too
--
You must have heard about Maternity leave before, it is simply the paid vacation mothers — and sometimes fathers as well — have after having a new child. This vacation length differs from one country to another, but it is mostly a long leave.
We all know how important maternity leave is, not just for the parents, but for society as well. Yet, I noticed no one takes about pregnancy leave, and here is why I believe we need a pregnancy leave too, it doesn’t have to be fully paid, but the flexibility of having it is a must.
1. Nausea is a nightmare.
I didn’t know how hard is pregnancy until I became pregnant myself. I am a reader, so I used to prepare myself for pregnancy by reading, and I would pass by the symptoms of the first trimester of pregnancy and read “Nausea”, and feel oh cool, maybe I will have some weird feeling or a headache. Yet, when I became pregnant the first time, it was so hard. I was surprised by how hard can nausea be. I was a freelancer by then, and I remember suddenly my working hours were down to 1 or 2 hours a day. I couldn’t attend any meetings as I was going to vomit at any moment. Everything was very disgusting, and my focus was horrible. I was thankful I had a flexible working condition where they accepted how sick I am.
I thought this is only me; I felt guilty for how tired I am, but later on, I discovered that this is how most women feel in their first trimester.
According to NCBI-PMC (US National Library Of Medicine):
Nausea and vomiting are common experiences in pregnancy, affecting 70–80% of all pregnant women. Although most women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) have symptoms limited to the first trimester, a small percentage of women have a prolonged course with symptoms extending until delivery.
I heard stories from my friends who worked full time, about how they would leave their office to vomit in the bathroom and return as if nothing happened. How…
