Pregnancy during phD

[u/Falanadhamakaaa]

I work in a molecular virology lab where i deal with influenza virus.
Our work most deals with, virus infections, cell culture , rna isolation, PCRs , western blot, agarose gel-electrophoresis etc.

What extra precautions am i supposed to be taking.

Also when did you inform your supervisor and how did they take the news considering how paranoid the supervisors are. I am just scared of informing mine.🥲

[u/mangomargarita13]

I was pregnant during the last few months of my PhD and I work with bacteria and mice! We do a lot of those same techniques. Your lab safety binder should have a section of chemicals/reagents that are reproductive hazards. I would start there.

I informed my advisor very early. Like 5 weeks, before my parents knew. I also informed a close lab mate. Every time I needed to use one of the reagents that could be a hazard, my lab mate or my advisor would help me.

Overall my advisor was very supportive! I defended while 18 weeks pregnant so I only had a few experiments to finish up. I started my postdoc in the same lab and I transferred over to more of a bioinformatics project so I could do a lot of work from home since I had some complications.

[u/mangomargarita13 → u/mangomargarita13]

Oh I also did almost all of my work in a biosafety cabinet. I'm allergic to mice so this wasn't completely out of the ordinary for me, but it did help me feel an extra layer of protection.

[u/Falanadhamakaaa → u/mangomargarita13]

That’s really helpful to hear. I hope my supervisory will be as understanding and empathetic.

I will also inform one of my lab-mate if things go on smoothly for me. So that i can take help wherever required.

[u/jessica_connel → u/mangomargarita13]

Wow! How did you handle that during the exhausting first trimester?

[u/mangomargarita13 → u/jessica_connel]

Since I was so close to finishing I was mostly writing from home! I went in maybe 1-2 days per week to finish up some experiments. I just wrote when I felt okay and hoped for the best lol

[u/FunRoll5396]

I defended at 6 months pregnant. My work involved DNA intercalating reagents. I had a colleague do the risky steps for me and was very careful with PPE. My baby is 22 yo now, so this was a long time ago. My advisor was very supportive.

[u/Falanadhamakaaa → u/FunRoll5396]

Wow that is so amazing and inspiring! 😍♥️

[u/geosynchronousorbit]

Your university should have an Employee Health and Safety department that can help you figure out the precautions. Check the rules but usually they are confidential so you can consult them as soon as you know you're pregnant, before you tell your supervisor.

[u/julia1031]

I can’t speak to the extra precautions since my PhD is in clinical psych, but I was pregnant my last year of in house training. I told my supervisors very early because I was super sick and it was difficult to hide it due to my decreased work output. All my supervisors were very supportive!!

Congratulations!

[u/Life_Commercial_6580]

I wasn’t working in biology but still in the lab. Just find out what exactly do you need to avoid/how to modify your work to be safe. It’ll be very dependent on your exact work.

I told my advisor at about 4 months or so and she took it very badly. Lots of bullying and abuse followed during and after pregnancy. That was in 2001-2002 now I hope they are not as blatantly abusive. My advisor was a woman and I heard she complained about what I did “to her” (by getting pregnant). I was an international student. I will never ever forgive her.

Oh and did I say she let me stay home after birth just for the two weeks I had PTO on the books and she actually tried to tell me I only had a week but I told her I’m 0.5FTE and I have two. I showed up back in the lab after 2 weeks. The baby had the good sense to be born on a Saturday and I went to the lab until the day before.

I graduated when my son was almost 2. I got a postdoc after but that guy fired me after 3 months because I lied during the interview. I asked in which way did I lie. He said “you didn’t tell me you had a child”. Obviously I couldn’t work nights and weekends and that was a problem. I also took my son with me at a conference when I was specifically told not to do that. My ex husband refused to stay home with him and insisted to come so I had no choice.

After that I sent my son overseas and I got another postdoc in another state, where they didn’t know I had a child. I could work nights and weekends and overnights there.

After over a year, by what was certainly a miracle, I finally got a faculty position and a green card and I brought my son back.

Did I say fuck those people?

Edit I did have a couple of grad students who got pregnant and I made extra sure I’m super supportive. I hope your advisor is like that.

[u/Falanadhamakaaa → u/Life_Commercial_6580]

That’s what scares me.😕😕 but I think the word has become at-least a bit more empathetic now .
But I still think Why do women have to choose between babies and career. Why we can’t have the liberty to make our choices and do well in our lives while raising our wonderful kids.

[u/Life_Commercial_6580 → u/Falanadhamakaaa]

Increasingly, we can. I also think that if I wasn’t a foreigner i would have suffered less abuse. I’m sure you are not going to have to endure such situations. Congratulations and good luck hope it goes well!

[u/Falanadhamakaaa → u/Life_Commercial_6580]

Thankyou

[u/Kicking_Dragonfly445]

I also told my advisor at like 5 weeks lol. I think she was surprised that I told her that early, but it was good because I spent weeks 8-18 incapacitated due to nausea. She was supportive the whole time and let me meet over zoom. I’m in population health research so no hazardous materials.