Pregnant Campers, CITs, or Staff

[Marzz]

I haven't posted in a while, but I got to thinking about this issue recently. Have any of you ever had an older camper, CIT or even staff member reveal or discover they are pregnant at camp? I've seen this happen a few times, but was never closely enough involved to have to deal with it. How would you handle a situation like this? I'm especailly interested in an Ad Staff point of view, but any imput is welcome.

[Flukie]

When I was a CIT 2, a fellow CIT found out she was pregnant. She told our CIT Director (who also was the Camp Director) who encouraged her to talk to her mom - she did, so it didn't have to go any further than that.

I also know a director who had staff come to her about being pregnant - an International. She went home after some serious talks with her family on the phone. I think that when it is staff, it adds in stress for that staff member that can affect how they do their jobs. I've worked with staff that are pregnant though and who don't have any issues - they continue carrying out their jobs and aren't negatively influenced by it at all. So I think a lot depends on teh staff member.

[Campgirlboo]

Good thread! This has actually come up as a concern/consideration of mine as I've recently gotten married....

I've actually discussed this with my current director...Since I'm wanting to get into directing as a career, camp will always be around in my life..however, I also want to have children eventually...It's wierd to think that I have to plan having kids around the summer.... :-) But not only around being pregnant in the summer, but how old they'd be at the start of the next camp year....

I realize I could take time off, but really, if you time it right, I wouldn't HAVE to....it depends on the summer, the position (camper vs staff/counselor vs ad staff) of the pregnant person, and the camp......

However, my director has said that she wants me to be pregnant during camp because then "We could paint your belly and you could be the cute pregnant staff member walking around" I told her she's a moron :-) But we have that kind of relationship.

I know that this doesn't really answer the question, as I've never HAD a pregnant staff/cit, however, hopefully it helps a little as this is a pretty personal concern/concept/question for me...

[Flukie]

I also think that it depends on if the pregnancy is planned or unplanned, along with the level of support that person has - a planned one is expected and pregnancy has been considered. Even an unplanned one with the proper support can lower stress levels - but an unplanned one without support for that person can cause much higher levels of stress and influence how they do their job.

[speedx5xracer]

It has yet to come up at my camp but we have had a few scares. Including a camper. It was weird but the directors/medical staff kept it under wraps. Im not sure how i would react or how my directors would react to an actual pregnancy.

[techgirl]

Would the directors of a camp cancel a contract if they found out a counselor had become pregnant before camp started? I'm just wondering how they would handle this.

[YUrocks!]

Would the directors of a camp cancel a contract if they found out a counselor had become pregnant before camp started? I'm just wondering how they would handle this.

I'm not totally up on all the laws but I belive that it is illegal to fire someone for being pregnant.

I had a staff member inform me she was pregnant after she was hired. We sat down and discussed what her camp experience might be like as a 6 & 7 month pregnant person. Eventually after consulting with her doctor she decided not to work at camp.

I think a pregnant person could still work at camp. Has anyone out there ever had this experience? I am curious to know how you dealt with the fatigue and puking.

[Marzz]

One year we had a staff person discover she was pregnant while at camp. It was towards the end of the season so she stayed. I'm not sure how it affected her job since she worked in a different area of camp than me. She was a specialty counselor so she didn't have her own group of kids to run after. I would imagine that the other staff she worked with directly made some accomodations for her.

[techgirl]

But wouldn't the camp have a problem with an unmarried young counselor being pregnant?

[Campgirlboo]

I actually talked with my old director about this, because (ha, apparently I have no problems sharing my life with internet strangers) there always is a possibility of it happening, even when you're being careful, and she said that she would have kept me on if I wanted to be there, but we'd have to sit and talk about what my limitations were and talk about being fair (as far as taking time off from my job --- morning sickness and etc ---making sure I didn't get special treatment *extra time off* because of being pregnant)

I asked her about the non-married girl (granted, I was 22 at the time and engaged) and she said something to the effect of "You're an administrative staff member, you're in your 20's and you have a ring on your finger, people are going to assume you're married...if they ask, you can politely inform them that you keep your personal life private if you don't want to tell them"

I can imagine, however, that it'd be different if it was some 17 year old junior counselor, obviously unmarried/non engaged, etc...

As an ad staff, (speaking strictly of my personal opinion, not any camp policy that I know of) I'd have no problem with it, but I'd make sure that she knew her limits and that we were in contact with her doctor about it.. (obviously with a minor, we'd also have involvement of parents). However, I don't think I'd ever try to hide it or tell a person they HAD to go home/terminate employment because of it (unless it was doctor ordered) but I'd make sure they knew what they were doing, they understood the situation/risks/conditions **such as what my director told me about excess time off**

My husband has already said that if I'm ever pregnant at camp that I'm going to be checked in on a lot to make sure I'm taking care of myself (as I have a tendancy to be a typical die-hard camp-*and ad staff*person.... long nights, early mornings, never resting, with seemingly unending energy....oh, and I NEVER drink as much water as I should) :-)

This is a pretty interesting topic and I'd love to know any other administrative opinions on it...

[YUrocks!]

But wouldn't the camp have a problem with an unmarried young counselor being pregnant?

Hmm. I hadn't thought of that. I run a camp out of a university so we're a little different than your typical camp. The staff member I had that was pregnant was actually already married (our staff our university students).

I bet that this would be a difficult issue if you were working in a Christian camp. Any directors (or others) from religious based camps have an opinion?

[Marzz]

Great input on this subject! Thanks everyone for your thought provoking posts.

If it were a staff member - I don't see why it would matter if she were married or unmarried. To me, it is not the moral issue of whether it's right or wrong to be pregnant, but rather how to handle the physical and psychological health issues of the pregnant person- assuming it was not a planned pregnancy.

In the case of Campers or CITS - Do you call their parents immediately? Do you send them home? Or should they stay at camp and deal with the issue when they return home? How involved should camp administration be once the issue is revealed?

[techgirl]

I think the campers/CITs would be much more controversial than the staff. I would think that it would be their choice to stay or return home, but I think it should be kept quiet if they stay to stop them from feeling gossiped about. What about a counselor or staff member that might have to leave early to have the baby? Would that cause problems with the camp directors?