Try not to create the maximum, but the minimum
In this sense, I once sat down and tried to remember what new German 'learnings' I have taken from my university pregnancy. Before you hang your pregnancy in the fifth week on the big bell: wait. This may be tough, but:
"Most miscarriages happen without the woman realizing it: before the egg is implanted. It is estimated that around half of the fertilized eggs go out in under-30s, and even more in older women. From the time pregnancy is a mild postpartum blues in postpartum depression, ie from about the 5th week, the rate of miscarriage is about ten to 15 percent. Many expectant mothers wait until the 12th week of pregnancy before they tell their surroundings about the pregnancy because about 80 percent of the abortions take place before that time. "
Next Step. Each university and each Studentenwerk has office hours for studying parents, for study with child, for financing possibilities for pregnant female students. I would contact as soon as possible the local Studentenwerk, the social counseling of the university and the university childcare facilities. Just make an appointment and bombard the local consultants with questions. Why?
Well, the counseling centers are the best informed. They can help you from the start, in my experience, they are very nice and they are no question too stupid. So save yourself hours of search engine sessions and prepare a detailed questionnaire for your first appointment with the responsible office. Every university is different and so is every study. A bachelor's degree in medicine has different challenges than a doctoral student in French art history.
Some colleges offer full-time childcare. In addition to offices and other official contact persons who provide information and concrete help, there are also student associations, church / political associations, parents' initiatives at universities, Kita vom Asta, etc. Göttingen even offers student apartments and rooms for students with children!
What you could ask in the consultation:
- Is there a crèche or day-care center at the university and am I entitled to a place? When, how, with whom should I apply or introduce myself?
- What kind of financial assistance is possible for me? (The lower your income, the more entitlement you have.)
- What bureaucratic hurdles can I take during pregnancy? Say, what can I fill out, apply for, complete, without the child's birth certificate?
- Is there a mother and child dorm?
- Is there a mother-child room in the library?
- What should I pay attention to in my student loan?
- What happens if I can not attend the exams? Do I need a certificate for my pregnancy?
- What happens if I take a vacation semester?
- Would a change of university be advisable? For example, near my parents?
- Every little question can be asked in these consultation dates, so collect! These are the very people who can help you. Questions that you should ask yourself:
- How long do you want to "fail"?
- Do you want to start again six weeks after birth?
- Do you take two leave semesters?
- Are you on parental leave?
- Do I need my own apartment? Should I get out of the shared apartment? Do I have to contract with my friend now? Do we need a bigger apartment?
- Do I have to marry?
My answer to all these questions: I do not know. The way I did it was okay in the end, but I could have been less stressful. Especially since I already had enough to do with study, job, move, pregnancy and wedding.
You can not predict what your pregnancy will be like. Mine was exhausting, and rightly so. I would have been able to lie down from the fifth month only, from the eighth month I had to even. I was also so dull in my head that I could hardly think straight, and certainly not scientifically sound. Really all I advised writing the master thesis before the birth of the child. I did not make it. I wanted to write to her on parental leave, but only because my husband and I split the 50/50. I was glad that we moved into a larger apartment before, but I also know young parents who are still in a 1-2-room apartment.
I found it very, very difficult to write a master's thesis, while I did not sleep for a year. Not that my studies were not demanding, but I do not know if I would have a law degree. Sometimes it may be advisable to just take a break and study in peace when the child is old enough for kindergarten or the like. But then again, there are mothers who really take energy out of their pregnancy and pump through before they have to go to the delivery room. But then everyone has to decide for themselves.