sem71587:I'm confused as to why you're worried about being penalized. I run my parents small business and manage our entire staff and all day to day operations so I feel I can understand what you're saying about working with owners and working in small business. I wouldn't even think twice about someone who worked for me becoming pregnant, it's not something I would hold against them mentally since that seems to be your concern regardless of how long they have worked for me.nbsp;Obviously I'm a woman so if my opinion is less convincing because of that... My Dad, who managed our business until 2009 when I graduated with my degree, would never have held it against an employee either.nbsp;This might not get me many fans but I think a lot of people create these problems in their heads. If you're good at your job, are reliable and an all around asset to the business then you shouldn't even give this a second thought. They have temp agencies to replace you short term.nbsp;
I think you are overestimating the values of some business owners based on your personal experience.
I used to work for a company where every single person who ended up pregnant got fired. There would always be a different "official" reason but I worked for a very small company in an at will state where not much could be done.
Right now I am in residency, and if you don't think getting pregnant will earn you animosity on behalf of your co residents and attendings, you are very much mistaken. When you take off during residency someone else has to take over your on call days and OR days which won't earn you many friends. I have experience only taking off 2 weeks with DS since I was in dental school at the time, so I'm not too worried about needing to take too much time off this time, unless there are health problems.