Family planning can be complicated. Whether you and your partner agree that now’s the right time to expand your family or not, there are things to consider before pregnancy. From finances to parenting roles, it’s important to have conversations with your partner and other family members about things like health problems, fertility, and costs involved with a healthy pregnancy before you make any bold moves.
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can plan smarter amidst all the other things you have going on, read on for things to consider.
How Pregnancy Impacts Busy Workers
Few could argue that a pregnancy impacts female workers more than their male counterparts. Regardless of gender, family planning still impacts both partners and is something to think about if high demand jobs will mean changes to the overall financial plan for your household.
Maybe you work for a socially conscious organization with an understanding of human rights and social justice. If you’re fortunate enough to have a boss like Malliha Wilson, you’ll have a less difficult time juggling finances, financial decisions, a workload, and a new addition regardless of gender.
When deciding how much having a child would impact your busy work schedule and if it might damage your career plan, think about your employer and take into consideration their policies around family support and planning. In some countries, it’s a federal law that parents are supported after pregnancy. In others, parents of either gender can be rushed back to busy jobs or face termination for taking time off to have a baby. These are things to consider when deciding the right time to add to your family.
Important Intimate Conversations
If you love your job, think you can juggle parenthood and career, and are set on moving forward in getting pregnant, there are conversations you should have with your partner. You’ll want to discuss role expectations, family history of medical conditions, finances, and how you’ll work together to ensure a healthy pregnancy.
If you’ve ever wondered what you should consider before getting pregnant, a trick is to look at the big picture. Don’t focus on the color of the baby’s nursery. Instead, consider things like how you’ll pay for college, the type of care or education you’ll want for your baby, and what you and your partner will do to nurture your child in spite of busy schedules. The best time to have these conversations is before you get pregnant so when the pregnancy is happening you can turn your focus to your developing baby and health issues.
Considering Other Obligations
If you’re in the sandwich generation between trying to help your older parents and considering adding to your own family, you’re even busier than most. Think about how you’ll juggle trips for prenatal care between giving your mother rides to meet with her geriatric care manager. If you’re the family caregiver for an older person, it’s something to take into consideration before planning your next pregnancy. Trying to bounce between advance care planning and the best ways to ensure a healthy pregnancy can be too much for most people.
When searching for family planning tips for older parents, consider factors like how your responsibilities to your own parents might impact your baby’s health. While this is not to say you can’t pull it off, it’ll be important to take into consideration things like financial support you may be giving elderly parents and the time it takes to walk them through senior care logistics. When making your decisions, remember that you deserve a good quality of life and balance, too.
Setting Priorities
Before throwing out your birth control pills, seeing a fertility specialist, or naming your future baby, take time to jot down a list of your priorities for work and home. Doing so will help you plan for the balance ahead. Whether you’ll be the one who’ll be pregnant and running off to the OB-Gyn or that’ll be your partner, putting your plan on paper now will make things easier in the exciting future ahead.
Once you’ve done this and believe you have good reasons to move forward, check-in with your partner often about their feelings, concerns, and even misconceptions of the road ahead. Doing so will keep you united. Where you can, keep your boss and coworkers in the loop too. An employer who’s invested will be more inclined to find ways to support your healthy pregnancy.
In the end, no matter what direction you decide to go in, take the time to weigh the pros and cons of juggling a busy work schedule with family life. Not only will you be glad you did but you might be surprised to discover the amount of time you have to give yourself and your loved ones the attention they deserve.
