The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission. 

Pregnant woman shares work update she sent her boss while giving birth

‘I think a simple ‘baby’s coming!’ Slack message would have sufficed,’ woman joked

Brittany Miller
New York
Thursday 18 January 2024 20:28 GMT
Comments
Related: Woman finds brilliantly petty way of stopping boss from stealing her work

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

America is a country known for not having the most accommodating maternity leave policies.

Tamara Drpić ended up taking to TikTok to show the video she had sent to her manager while she was in the hospital and about to give birth. Her on-screen caption read, “the actual video I sent to my manager when I was about to give birth.”

She started the clip by thanking her boss for checking in. “I’m actually going to have a baby tonight. Right now,” Drpić said.

The mother-to-be continued to explain that she was currently feeling the effects of the drugs after having an epidural. She pointed out that the baby was coming “way sooner than expected” but that she shouldn’t worry about it affecting her work performance because she said, “Don’t worry, I’ll wrap up some emails and stuff. Let me know if you have any questions about the OneNote.”

“I think a simple ‘baby’s coming!’ Slack message would have sufficed,” she captioned her TikTok.

Her video went on to receive over one million views with many people leaving comments about how “American” her actions were.

“This is soooo American hahaha,” one commenter joked.

“The reality of being an employee in America,” another commenter agreed.

Some commenters explained that they had similar situations where they were working while in the hospital. “Me when I went into preterm labour and my boss said ‘can you be in tomorrow?’” one commenter shared.

“This was me. Hospitalised at 35 weeks, a week before my mat leave. I was dictating emails to my husband bc the meds had my hands too swollen to type,” another story from the comments section read.

“I had this delulu manager once and I was in labour with my son he CALLED me and asked if I was going to come to work the next day,” a third story read.

Drpić went on to share multiple follow-up videos to share how her boss ended up responding. After sending the video, she showed screengrabs of her boss replying. They said, “Omg this is so exciting. Don’t worry about it. Just enjoy the moment and share pics…” A follow-up message read, “Let me know if you need anything on my end.”

A few hours later her boss sent her another text message that read, “Any update?” with a grinning emoji.

While some people in the video’s comments were happy to see her have such a supportive boss, other commenters were pointing out that the bar is “way too low” to be grateful to a manager for not expecting an employee to work while giving birth.

“‘She was so nice about it’ babe, you need to find a new job if that’s how you’re thinking,” one commenter wrote.

“The ‘any update’ and that smug emoji gave me so much anxiety when boundaries were already crossed anyways,” another commenter pointed out.

“She should be??” a third commenter wrote, mentioning that her boss should not have been anything other than “chill.” “You and your baby come first.”

Drpić admitted in the comments section herself how surprised she was to see such negative interactions about the situation.

“My manager is literally the most chill person I know and always has my back. I’m surprised at how it’s being interpreted!” she wrote in response to a comment.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in