Pregnant nurses and doctors say they are being forced to go to work with no formal accommodations or extra protections to keep them safe from the coronavirus, even though they are immunocompromised and data is still emerging about the risks of fetal transmission.

Dozens of pregnant medical workers reached out to ProPublica, saying they were weighing whether to stay in jobs they view as dangerous or quit, which could add to the burdens of their beleaguered colleagues. Many said they didn’t have paid sick or maternity leave and couldn’t afford to take a break. Because some spoke out against employers or were threatened with firing if they spoke about COVID-19 cases at their facilities, their names have been withheld.

One nurse, in a psychiatric hospital in a hot spot area, said a co-worker tested positive for the virus and others were exposed, but the hospital has refused to test employees until they develop a fever or a cough. “You still have to come to work unless you have symptoms,” she said. She was told she cannot wear a mask, something reserved only for staffers whose patients have tested positive.

“I said, ‘If you don’t know who is positive, what about that?’ No answer.”

A nurse at a long-term care facility asked her supervisors if she could do the paperwork-heavy parts of her job from home. “They told me no and said if I did stay home, they would fire me,” she said. Alarmed by the fact that staff had little to no personal protective equipment, she asked if she could keep her office door closed. “They said no, I had to be available to the other staff.”

Over the weekend, she developed a cough, a sore throat and a slight but concerning fever. “I’m terrified,” she said.

 The American health care workforce is overwhelmingly female — about 90% of nurses and home health aides are women — and at any given time, an unknown number of them, likely in the thousands, are pregnant. Many of those nurses, doctors and medical support staff continue to provide front-line patient care as the pandemic unfolds — whether they want to or not and without knowing the long-term consequences for their babies.

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