Toolkit for employers and employees on pregnancy loss

New resources for employers and employees on pregnancy loss and the workplace have been launched by the University College Cork (UCC) pregnancy loss research group.

Pregnancy Loss and the Workplace: A Toolkit for Employers and Employees, and Words at Work: Experiences of Pregnancy Loss in the Workplace were published this month.

The toolkit and book were both informed by findings from the PLACES project (Pregnancy Loss in Workplaces: Informing policymakers on support mechanisms), funded by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.   

The project’s main focus was on people who experience pregnancy loss prior to 24 weeks’ gestation, as people who have a pregnancy loss after 24 weeks’ gestation can avail of full maternity leave and paternity leave entitlements.

Prof Keelin O’Donoghue, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, UCC and Consultant Obstetrician and Maternal-Foetal Medicine Sub-Specialist, Cork University Maternity Hospital, is the Lead of the pregnancy loss research group. She told the Medical Independent that the toolkit would better support employees who experience pregnancy loss.

“We will disseminate this toolkit widely and hope that it will be adopted and used by organisations, professional bodies, managers, and employers,” Prof O’Donoghue stated.

“The book is a collection of words to illuminate pregnancy loss at work. Each text is a direct quotation from a person with experience of pregnancy loss who participated in the PLACES project.”

The project found a significant gap between the needs of individuals who experienced pregnancy loss under 24 weeks and the support available to them in workplaces. There is a stigma around discussing pregnancy loss in the workplace, with participants in the project reporting fear of dismissal from work or discrimination in opportunities to progress their career as a result of time off work following pregnancy loss.

Prof O’Donoghue believes there is a need for dedicated leave from work and better workplace policies and support for people who experience pregnancy loss.