Office Etiquette and Pregnancy
When it comes to pregnancy, it seems a woman’s body becomes a public topic of conversation. Below are a few tips if you are unsure of what to say to your pregnant colleague.
Acceptable questions and comments include:
Congratulations, I’m very excited for you.
You’ll be a wonderful mother.
How far along are you?
Do you know the sex of the baby?
You look great!
How are you feeling?
Non-acceptable questions and comments include:
Wow, you are ginormous!!
You’re tiny, are you eating enough?
Your breasts are adjusting well to pregnancy!!
Did you lose your mucus plug yet??
You must be having twins!
How long did it take you to conceive?
You must be wearing maternity clothes already!
Gross, is that vomit on your blouse?
Eating for two, eh?
Was this planned?
Do you know who the father is?
You look absolutely exhausted!!
Nice cankles!
Pregnancy can be an emotional rollercoaster for women, even without the insensitive comments. In general, keep questionable observations and thoughts to yourself. You might get a cheap laugh from your audience, but your comment can have a potentially negative impact on your colleague, who might already feel she has lost all control over her body.
Some of you are probably thinking this is all common sense, and I agree it should be. Unfortunately, that is not always reality.
Now, if your pregnant colleague points to her breasts and asks: “Would you like milk in your coffee?” … well, then please ignore everything I just said, it’s fair game from that point on!
