Work and Pregnancy: Friends or Foes?

Once upon a time I had a stable job. I worked in a call centre for a banking group. Monday to Friday 9 till 5. At first, I thought this is what I wanted. Tired of working in hospitality, I was seeking routine and bank holidays off. After 18 months sitting at a desk answering phone calls I realised I was not cut out for this.

DIY

I have always been a creative person and very much enjoy DIY and all sorts of crafts. From sewing to knitting, silver jewellery, successfully making felt brooches and a failed attempt at resin pendants. I enjoy making gifts for my friends and family, especially for my niece and nephew. And now also for my soon-to-be-born wee boy.

Resignation & No Regrets

Once I decided I could no longer work in a call centre I came across the opportunity for a complete change. A local business specialised in making personalised gifts was seeking a new production assistant. This was a sign for me! It was time to get back into creativity and leave the boring desk job.

Surprise!

At the job interview I was made aware that the position was temporary with a possibility of staying on after Christmas, but with no guarantee. I decided to have no fear and go with what felt right at that moment. I handed in my resignation letter and started looking forward to a fresh start. Little did I know that just 1 week later I would be peeing on a stick and finding out I was pregnant.

Work And Pregnancy

The new job was fun and exciting, but as expected January sales were not that great and I was let go by the end of the month. I was 22 weeks pregnant. My first reaction was to panic. No company was going to hire me so far along in the pregnancy, but it was too soon to go on Maternity Allowance. What to do now?

To an extent I can understand why a company would not want to hire a pregnant woman. But in all honesty, this is not fair. I have been feeling great throughout my whole pregnancy and I know I would have been able to work hard and give as much as any non-pregnant employee for a good 3 months. Instead, I have had to go to job interviews and pretend nobody could see the obvious bump because I don’t need to mention it and the hiring company can’t ask. But deep inside we both know we are wasting each other’s time and I will not be hearing back from them.

Personalised Baby Clothing

I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason. I decided to take this turn of events as my second sign from the universe. My husband has started a printing business and has always been talking about making and selling personalised clothes. We had a little bit of money saved up and I had ideas, lots of ideas. It is not the time to panic, it is time to start an adventure. I had to talk him into starting with baby products and eventually we will work our way towards many more products, including t-shirts for all ages.

So now I spend my days throwing ideas at him and he turns them into cute and funny creations. And this is how Made in the Moon was born. With a little bit of fear and a lot of love, wish us all the best of luck.