I am currently applying to various programmes like the Wellcome trust 4 year PhD adn various college scholarships.

Interviews will be held for these in Jan or Feb I would imagine...by which point I will be very obviously 5 or 6 months pregnant.

This isn't my first child or even my first child whilst studying (I got a first class and a distinction in my MRes so it really isn't a problem)

But how do I stop them from making a snap NO decision before I've even opened my mouth? :(

Baggy clothes? Hehe.

Seriously though, it sounds like you're applying for pretty top end stuff, so I would imagine that the academics involved are looking for the top people. Whether pregnant or not. They might want to know how you'd manage PhD and looking after a new-born child, whether you'd have to start late because of maternity leave and so on, but it really shouldn't affect their decision.

Any if it does - are they really the kind of people you want to work with?

...'but it really shouldn't affect their decision'.

but it probably will. We are in the real world here folks.

I'd make a point of bringing it up at interview, explain that it didn't affect your studies before and it won't this time round either. Better than them making assumptions!

One of the girls who started with me has become pregnant and nobody has been negative about it.. I guess all you can do is be honest and have a plan for how you will fit a baby and your phd together.

Yeah I did think about just stuffing my face with cakes for the next two months so you can't tell that i'm not just pudgy :)

OMG thank goodness for that. I thought you meant you got pregnant in an interview.

Yeah, make a positive of it - that you can prove you are organised/dedicated/good at time managment because you've already done degrees while having/bringing up kids

Hurrah "return of the golfpro" - welcome back!

btw when I read the thread topic I was thinking the same thing as aliby! Imagined some sort of horrendous accident with a turkey baster during a tour of the lab, or a set-to with the ladies toilet seat....

Pea, how exactly could a ladies toilet seat make someone pregnant? Or is there something I'm missing here?

mathew82 didn't you know you can get pregnant from a toilet seat & if a man touches your bra?

You can also get pregnant if a man uses his tongue when kissing you

*chuckle* yes I can see how that would be misread - hey at least the thread gets viewed.

But you can't get pregnant if you have sex while standing up on a toilet seat. Or standing up while a man is kissing you.

and you cant get pregnant if you do it in a swimming pool or in the sea