Dare to Lead… While Pregnant at Work (And Battling HG)

Where Brené Brown meets maternity leggings, a squeaky office chair straight out of a horror film, and a stomach that seems to have taken up part?time work as a theme park ride.

Before diving into the fun (and chaos) of parenting, we need to start with the prequel: pregnancy. And to be honest, it felt like the longest nine months of my life, not because I was impatient, but because I was diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG).

HG isn’t “a bit of sickness.”
It isn’t “ooh you must be having a girl.”
It’s a medical condition that turns pregnancy into an extreme sport.

Think Ironman, but instead of endurance running, you’re mastering the art of attempting professional leadership from the bathroom floor.

If you haven’t heard of HG, the short version is:
It’s not morning sickness. It’s morning, noon, night, 3am, and “should I just move into the hospital?” sickness.

Victoria Beckham and Kate Middleton had it, and if they struggled with access to chefs, rest, and people whose entire job is to keep them comfortable, imagine the reality when you’re trying to lead meetings, hit deadlines, and maintain the illusion of professionalism when your insides are staging a coup.

This blog is for anyone who’s ever tried to run a meeting while your baby schedules a gymnastics routine in your ribcage and your stomach files a grievance. It’s messy, it’s funny, and it’s full of leadership lessons, whether you’re growing a team, a human, or just trying to grow through a very intense life chapter.

HG Reality Check (Served with Sarcasm and Electrolytes)

HG turns your Google search history into a comedy sketch:

• “Can you survive on ice cubes?”
• “Foods with zero smell.”
• “IV fluids via Amazon Prime?”

And yet, without fail, someone will chirp up with:

“Have you tried ginger biscuits?”
Oh yes, Brenda. I’ve tried ginger biscuits, ginger tea, ginger everything short of hiring a ginger-scented aromatherapist. Ginger is lovely. Ginger is great. Ginger is not the medical treatment for HG.

“Just stay hydrated!”
Excellent suggestion. I’ll simply take one tiny sip of water and — oh look, there it goes.

HG is gruelling. It’s also misunderstood.
So humour becomes survival.
Not because it’s funny, but because the alternative is crumbling under something that really is very serious.

And if sheer determination were an Olympic sport, HG mums should be awarded a place on the podium.

Dare to Lead Lessons … Pregnancy Edition

1. Courage Over Comfort

What Brené means:
Courageous leaders don't choose the easy path, they choose truth, growth, responsibility, and integrity, even when it’s uncomfortable. True leadership requires stepping out of comfort zones, having hard conversations, and showing up fully.

Pregnancy Edition:
Pregnancy, and especially HG, laughs in the face of comfort.

Courage becomes:

• Turning up to a meeting even though your chair squeaks like a haunted attic
• Choosing to lead despite your body behaving like a special effects experiment

You quickly learn that courage isn’t always dramatic.
Sometimes it’s simply showing up, even if your personal goal for the day is “don’t faint.”

2. Vulnerability Is Strength

What Brené means:
Vulnerability isn’t weakness, it’s the birthplace of innovation, creativity, trust, and connection. Leaders who show vulnerability create environments where others feel safe to do the same.

Pregnancy Edition:
Pregnancy forces you into vulnerability whether you planned for it or not.

It’s quietly admitting:

• “I need help today.”
• “I’m not operating at 100%.”
• “Please move the bin closer. Closer. No, closer.”

What surprised me was how many people responded with kindness.
Colleagues fetched biscuits, covered meetings, rearranged schedules, brought lunch, offered lifts and a few became lifelong friends.

And yes, pregnancy also reveals who not to turn to.
Vulnerability is a sorting system.

3. Clear Is Kind

What Brené means:
Avoiding clarity, especially around expectations, feedback, or boundaries, creates confusion, frustration and mistrust. Kindness is clarity. Unclear is unkind.

Pregnancy Edition:
Lack of clarity creates… the wrong crisps.

Pregnancy demands precision:

• “I can't handle any food with a smell today.”
• “Salt and vinegar. Kettle. LARGE bag. This is not improv.”

Clear communication at work helps everyone succeed.
Brené is right: clear really is kind, especially when cravings are involved.

4. Living Into Your Values

What Brené means:
Values aren’t words you pick, they’re behaviours you practice. To lead with integrity, you must act, decide, and show up in alignment with your core values.

Pregnancy Edition:
HG simplifies your values dramatically.

Your top value becomes: SURVIVAL.
Everything else queues politely behind it.

“Living into your values” in HG looks like:

• Choosing rest over pretending everything’s fine
• Setting boundaries like, “If you book a 9am meeting, you hate me”
• Letting go of perfection in favour of functionality
• Being honest about what you can (and absolutely cannot) do

On better days, your values return. On HG days, your value is “stay upright.” Both count.

5. Trust Is Built in Small Moments (BRAVING)

What Brené means:
Trust is not one grand gesture, it’s a series of specific behaviours captured in BRAVING: Boundaries, Reliability, Accountability, Vault, Integrity, Non?judgment, and Generosity.

Pregnancy Edition:
BRAVING when pregnant becomes startlingly literal:

• Boundaries: “If you microwave fish, we are no longer colleagues.”
• Reliability: “I’ll attend… if I go on mute just know that my stomach staged a revolt.”
• Accountability: “Sorry I was quiet. A Rice Krispie betrayed me.”
• Vault: Bathroom escapades stay confidential. Forever.
• Integrity: Choosing courage over using the lift that smells like fear.
• Non?judgment: Asking for help peeling a banana.
• Generosity: Assuming “you look pale” means “beautifully radiant.”

Pregnancy doesn’t break trust, it just exposes whether it’s been built properly.

6. Learning to Rise

What Brené means:
Learning to Rise is Brené’s three?step resilience model:
The Reckoning (recognise emotions) → The Rumble (challenge the stories you’re telling) → The Revolution (write a new ending).

It’s about building courage and self?awareness so leaders can recover from setbacks and rise stronger.

Pregnancy Edition:
Pregnancy turns Learning to Rise into a real experience.

• The Reckoning: Realising simple tasks (like putting on shoes) now require strategic planning and a warmup.
• The Rumble: Wondering why rolling over in bed deserves its own health and safety briefing.
• The Revolution: Getting up anyway, slowly, determinedly and getting through the day with snacks, stamina, and sheer stubborn brilliance.

Pregnancy gives Brené’s model a new rhythm: fall, rise, repeat, snack.

Closing Thoughts

Pregnancy at work isn’t a detour from leadership, it’s leadership under pressure.
Add HG, and you’ve got a crash?course in:

• resilience
• boundaries
• clarity
• courage
• sheer human determination

HG is serious. It deserves awareness, compassion, and support.
But pregnancy also gives you moments of absurdity, humour, connection and unexpected strength.

And if all else fails, remember:
biscuits fix almost everything (except HG — but they still help).

Now your turn:
What’s your funniest “leadership meets bump” moment?
Extra points if snacks were involved.

Melissa

This blog is part of a series originally posted on LinkedIn