Helping Pregnant Women Keep Their Jobs.

A collection of Curbside Consultation published in AFP is available at http://www.aafp.org/afp/ curbside. Case Scenario At 7.5 months pregnant, my patient found herself increasingly uncomfortable at work. Her varicose veins ached from standing on the job, where she was required to work a cash register and walk prescriptions from the pharmacy to the checkout area. I wrote a note to her boss explaining that she was pregnant and needed light-duty work for the duration of her pregnancy. Her employer’s human resources department told her that there were no available alternative positions, and that she did not meet the eligibility criteria for leave as defined by the Family and Medical Leave Act. She would be allowed to reapply for any available openings after her baby was born, but human resources could not guarantee rehiring her. My patient is her family’s primary breadwinner. Is there anything I could have done differently to avoid this outcome?