Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 20, 1994                   TAG: 9411180050
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: G-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: ST. PAUL, MINN.                                LENGTH: Medium

WORKING WOMEN MUST SET THE STAGE FOR HOW THEIR PREGNANCIES ARE PERCEIVED

At 39, she is six months pregnant and has a 1-year-old daughter at home. She also is among the growing ranks of young mothers for whom ``balance'' doesn't mean only day-care issues. It means juggling a tiring pregnancy and a demanding professional life without missing a beat or showing the strain.

Backaches and swollen ankles, anyone?

``I try to allow myself breathing room between meetings when I'm pregnant,'' says Flaherty, general counsel and co-founder of Lariat Cos. in Eden Prairie, Minn. ``Other than that, I haven't suffered from morning sickness, and I don't take off time from work. That's purposeful. I think there is still some prejudice against women who do take time off when they're pregnant.''

Camille Thomas, an executive with the Target discount store chain, agrees that women risk having their professional commitment questioned when they announce a pregnancy at work. ``You certainly hear that in the retail industry,'' she says. ``Women fear they'll be asked if they've chosen the Mommy Track.''

Thomas, 33, was offered both her promotions at Target right after giving birth to her kids, now 5 and 1. She credits her company with displaying an enlightened attitude, but she also says women must set the stage for how their pregnancies are perceived.

``It shouldn't be a consideration,'' says Thomas, director of interactive electronic retail at Target. ``If you allow yourself to be concerned with it, that comes across in all your conversations.''

Women of childbearing age who elect to continue their careers, or who have no financial choice but to work, face tough questions in the continuing quest to combine work and family. If the doctor assigns them to bed rest midway through the pregnancy - not uncommon among busy, physically active women - will they jeopardize either their incomes or their jobs? Will they be branded as unworthy of advancement?

If they become pregnant right after landing a good position, how will the boss take the news? If they're unhappy with their job and then get pregnant, what are their chances of being hired elsewhere?

Conversely, if a pregnant career woman refuses to slow down, could she harm the baby? ``Oh, yeah, guilt,'' says Monica Little with a laugh, recalling her own problem pregnancy.

The owner of Little & Co., a thriving graphic arts firm in Minneapolis, Little was put on bed rest two years ago when she was 71/2 months pregnant. For six weeks, she ran the company from a bed in her family room, lying flat on her back, with a phone and fax machine by her head.

``I got my life down to two things: incubating this baby and working,'' says Little, 39, whose husband picked up much of the household work then and also took a three-month leave when their son was an infant. ``I didn't lift a finger at home. I didn't cook a meal. My social life, volunteer stuff - that all got put on hold.''

Her advice to pregnant women in the work force is the very advice she ignored: Slow down, put your feet up. ``It can be done. Try to think ahead. Ask for support and help.

``And be really nice to yourself,'' Little says. ``I wish I had taken that more into consideration.''

Time was when pregnant women were fired - or, more often, quietly asked to resign. Sharon Slettehaugh, co-founder of the Midlife Women's Network in Minneapolis, lived through those days.

She was working in state government in 1970 when she became pregnant with her son. One of only two women in the office, Slettehaugh chose to play down her condition, hiding her belly beneath big clothes.

``I look back now and laugh,'' she says. ``That was when pregnant women couldn't fly past a certain point, either, as stewardesses or passengers. They didn't want to do any deliveries on airplanes.''

Years later, both employers and professional women are seeing pregnancy for the natural occurrence it is: one that interrupts work but enhances life, and often brings colleagues together.

``Being pregnant in the workplace has enabled me to build closer connections with people on a personal level, both men and women,'' Flaherty says. ``They will often share stories about their children. Boundaries are loosened, barriers dropped. That's been really rewarding.''