Diary of a dad-to-be: week 35

I am so relieved that Maria has just two weeks of work left. Some might say it’s good that she has a "distraction" to take her mind off worrying about the pregnancy, but I feel the situation is doing more harm than good.

What benefit can an employer get from working a woman into the ground when she is obviously not physically capable of carrying out her duties to the normal extent?

Maria’s mind appears as sharp as ever, but she just feels so tired and very depressed. Thankfully, her mood lifts as soon as she sees our son Sam and, dare I say it, maybe me as well!

Maria is required to hand-over her duties to a colleague who is going to cover for her while she is on maternity leave. On the face of it this may appear straightforward, but it is actually more of a can of worms as the woman in question is very inexperienced.

With all this going on Maria forgets that she has a midwife appointment. Irrationally, she bursts into tears and says she feels so guilty.

I comfort her by saying "it doesn’t matter, you can just re-arrange it – they will understand". She does, and the midwife confirms that she is fine physically.

I wonder about her mental state, though.

Read week 36 of Adam's pregnancy diary >>