5 Tips For Pregnant Lawyers

I'm a mommy lawyer. And I worked while pregnant. I've got two kids under the age of 8 and I currently work in house at a company with over $1 billion in revenue. 

I wrote and passed the California bar exam when I was 8 months pregnant. I also worked at a large law firm, and then subsequently at a major legal publisher while I was in my second pregnancy. 

Pregnancy is hard. I'm not trying to rub salt in the wounds of those women who are pregnant and working as lawyers. I did it, but it was brutal. (Read my lament here.)

But having done it, Here are my 5 tips to being pregnant while working.

1. Disclose your pregnancy. Many women are scared to tell their employer that they are pregnant. I actually told a law firm in the interview and they still hired me, so the stigma isn't as bad as many believe it is. While it's not wise to tell your boss before the sixth month, pregnancy can mess with your brain, so you might want your workplace to be more understanding of any minor errors that you do, as a result of brain-fog.  The other added benefit of telling your boss is that the law protects you from adverse employment actions (i.e. getting fired or demoted) if you are pregnant. 

2. Use disability benefits for pregnancy. There are many benefits afforded to people who are pregnant. I was able to take the bar exam in a private hotel room with food, a private bathroom, and a pillow in my lap. If your pregnancy is particularly bad, you should even consider taking a paid leave. In many states, your job is protected. 

3. Work from home. Many transactional law jobs will allow you to work from home. If you're doing predominately research or redlining contracts, you can get away with working from home. I was working at a large international publishing house for the latter half of my pregnancy and they let me work from home four days a week. 

4. Get your sleep. After you come home from work, make sure you sleep well. I used to go to bed at 7 P.M. If you have other kids, this might be challenging but if you have a supportive spouse, you need to call on that support now. 

READ: Working Parents, Don't be Ashamed to Ask For Help (Attorney Diaries)

5. Eat well. If you're throwing up every meal, it might be hard to eat well when you are pregnant. But you need the energy and the nutrition. Keep some healthy snacks with you, such as fruit and yogurt. 

Many women work in law firms while pregnant. From time to time, you will run into difficult employers or people who don't understand. And yes, you might get labeled as the "mommy" (I actually won a gag award from a well-intentioned female boss called the "'Heck yeah I can make my numbers even with a crying baby' Award".)  

But in the big picture, you'll come out on top. 

Working Parents: Don't Be Ashamed to Ask For Help

It's not shameful to ask for help. But parents--moms in particular-- can find it so shameful to admit that parenting is hard work. They see the smiling moms, with their perfect jobs and coiffed hair raising three perfect kids, who make parenting and working look effortless.

Don't buy into that image. It's not always real.

Here's reality: When you're a working parent, it's hard enough to be in several places at once. If you're a lawyer and a mom, it's even harder. But this post isn't just for lawyer moms. It's for all working parents, as the struggle of balancing work and parenting is common.

Related Read: Quick and Easy Means for the Working Parent (Foodie Heaven)

When you're an attorney working at a firm, in house or operating your own practice, it's hard enough to be all things for all people.



But throw in kids into the mix and you've got a recipe for chaos.

It's a myth to say that humans are good at multitasking. We're not capable of multi-tasking. According to a recent study, only two percent of the human population can actually multitask effectively. What we've come to know as "multi-tasking" is actually the ability for a human to quickly change focus.

For a parent, it's even harder to "multi-task", yet, we've grown accustomed to switching focus at the snap of a finger. As a parent, at any given point of the day, your attention is split between your the task you are trying to accomplish and the need to care for your kids. Children are in some ways the most selfish of creatures. They don't care whether you are preoccupied or whether you have to meet a deadline. They don't care that you have hot oil on the stove. If they want something, they want it NOW.

Sounds like your legal client, doesn't it?

That's why the legal profession can be a particularly challenging one for a parent. You have people making quick demands and expecting fast turnaround all day, at all hours of the day. There's no "off" switch. There's no down time. When a legal client or a partner at your firm wants a task delivered, you must drop everything and deliver.

Many lawyers will opt to go in-house once they have kids, thinking that the removal of the billable hour might ease their deadlines and turnaround times. The in-house legal environment should theoretically be better. The attorney has only one client to represent-- the company. In practice, however, the in-house attorney's role is to be responsive to numerous internal clients, many of whom have critical multi-million dollar business deals to close in short time frames.

The reality is that if you're a working professional and a parent at the same time, it's hard to juggle the responsibilities of parenting and the demands of work.

Some people are fortunate to have parents or in-laws nearby to help. But for those people who aren't as fortunate, it's important to develop a network of close allies and friends who can help--you need good friends who can pick up your kids last minute from daycare if you're running late, share food with you, or even lend you a shoulder to cry on when the stress gets overwhelming. There's no shame in asking for help.