How the Pandemic and Lockdown Helped My Pregnancy and Work-Life Balance
The COVID-19 pandemic has created havoc in the world. It was very disheartening to see and read about the negatives of it. However, there have been some positives, too. The best thing that came from the pandemic was the work-from-home option for some companies, especially the IT companies.
I was working in an IT firm when I got pregnant, and I was living in a metropolitan city. The mere thought of managing my pregnancy and working during and after it gave me nightmares. I was extremely worried about things like:
1. How will I travel to and fro from the office for such long hours in the traffic, especially after such long hours of work?
2. Pregnancy causes drowsiness during the first and third trimester, for which I need to take naps. How will I take naps in the office during work? Wouldn’t this affect my productivity and my job?
3. Pregnancy in the third trimester causes back pain while sitting for long hours in the office. How am I going to manage that?
4. Maternity leave is only for 6 months, so I need to keep working till my due date so that I can get all the 6 months after my delivery. Since the baby needs to be breastfed till 6 months, I cannot think about going to office before that. Will my body co-operate till my due date?
With all these worries came the nation-wide lockdown in the month of March 2020. All the IT companies gave the work-from-home option. I was thrilled with it. I successfully worked and worked till my due date, and got the maternity leave as I wished.
I was able to take frequent pregnancy naps during my work, and arranged a comfortable working environment on my bed during my pregnancy. The work-from-home option also enabled us to work from different parts of the country. Hence, we could get support from my family, who did not live in metropolitan cities, and yet continue to work.
We have taken enough precautions, and none of us has caught COVID-19. I feel that I am blessed to have delivered during the pandemic, as I received immense support from my family while not letting my job get affected.
I wish that the work-from-home option remains in place even after the pandemic gets controlled, so that mothers like me will be able to maintain a good work-life balance.
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