You may be excited and wanting to share your pregnancy news with your colleagues, however, keeping quiet about it until you are past the first twelve weeks and the risk of miscarriage had reduced is a good idea. It may not be easy if you are suffering from nausea and needing to make frequent visits to the ladies room, it could have your colleagues guessing, therefore be careful not to wait too long Your employer should hear the news from you and not from others.

• Once you have informed your employer of your pregnancy you will then be protected by the law, therefore you should not be penalised for being pregnant.

• By law you don’t have to tell your employer that you are pregnant until you reach fifteen weeks.

• You will be then be entitled to paid time off for all your ante-natal care.

How easy is it to carry on working throughout your pregnancy?Many women choose to work right up until the moment they give birth and make it seem so easy. For others who suffer from nausea in the early months may find this too difficult to even contemplate. You need to decide what’s best for you, both emotionally and financially. Pregnancy complications could also dictate when you need to finish working.

• Don’t think that you will be able to work in exactly the same way you did before you became pregnant especially if your job is strenuous or high pressured.

• Don’t be too hard on yourself if you are finding it hard to cope with growing a baby and holding down your job - ask if you could be transferred to an easier work position.

• If you want to carry on doing the same job but finding it difficult - ask if you could reduce your hours or if possible work some hours from home.

• Enquire about flexible working hours - you could work longer hours on the days when you’re feeling good and shorter on the days where you feel you need to rest your swollen ankles!

Find out what your companies maternity leave’s policies are and try to work out what will suit you and your baby. Some mum’s enjoyed putting their feet up for their third trimester others wanted to save that time for when their baby arrived.