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Hormones in pregnancy

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dorsetpennt Tue 27-Sept-16 16:51:36

I had my first child in the 60s my other two in the 70s. The age of treating pregnant women like cut glass was long past. We worked during our pregnancy and just got on with it. Obviously people treated us slightly differently like offering a seat on the bus, taking an interest in the progression of our pregnancy, carrying our shopping and so on.
Then a girl in my office got pregnant and I discovered "hormones" had been invented. She was able to get away with bad behaviour, days off "sick" , sulking, demands etc because of hormones. That was over ten years ago but other women I've worked with have also become pregnant and have had hormones. Does this mean that pregnant women have regressed to being delicate again. Do you know I never knew a woman going through a rotten menopause being given the same consideration. In actual fact its been used as a stick to beat her with, I once heard someone referred to as a menopausal bitch , even though her behaviour was "hormones'.

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Ana Tue 27-Sept-16 16:59:30

I think that in the workplace employers have to bend over backwards these days to avoid being accused of discriminating against anyone for anything - including being pregnant!

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Luckygirl Tue 27-Sept-16 16:59:45

Pregnancy hormones can of course be problematical. My DD had an ante-natal depressive illness that left her in bed for several months and caused a total personality change from a bubbly outgoing person to someone who needed constant watching for her own safety. It was a nightmare.

I do think that women need to be able to say when their hormonal states (PMT, pregnancy, menopause) are giving them grief without feeling they might be disparaged for this.

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millymouge Tue 27-Sept-16 17:05:03

My children were born in the 60's/70's and I never heard about 'hormones'. You got on with life, certainly had some 'off' days during pregnancy but you had to get on with things. Work expected you still be on time and do your job well. As for the menopause, I must admit mine was not as bad as some go through, but even so just got on with it even if you were feeling frail.

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harrigran Tue 27-Sept-16 18:22:11

I had my first baby in the late 60s and did not have any sick leave from my nursing job. I had sickness for the majority of my pregnancy, we weren't molly cuddled.

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dorsetpennt Tue 27-Sept-16 18:36:46

Luckygirl I realise that some women suffer before and after their pregnancies with sickness, bleeding, depression etc. My point is that many seem to get away with anything due to hormones.

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Judthepud2 Tue 27-Sept-16 19:23:43

Yes but do you not remember the weepies? I used to cry about the least thing, especially starving children, murders (there were plenty here in NI in the 70s), any sad story, or just because I felt like it. When pregnant with number 4, it was just weeping with fatigue! There was also 'baby brain' where I became very forgetful.

We did have hormones, just different names for them.

And hormones are responsible for the awful PND! Again I just wept a lot (tiredness?I started with twins) but one of my DDs had dreadful PND.

Still, don't remember using this as an excuse for bad behaviour.

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Ana Tue 27-Sept-16 19:37:13

I think it's a given that most women suffer to some extent from one or more of the problems of pregnancy.

I thought dorsetpennt's point was that these days huge allowances are made for pregnant women, especially in the workplace, which wasn't the case when most of us had our children.

Probably a combination of PC-ness and Health & Safety rules.

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