Researchers in Cork launch new resources to support women through pregnancy loss

While many workplaces are very supportive of employees after they experience pregnancy loss, this is not the experience of all women.

Researchers in Cork are hoping to address that gap, and the University College Cork Pregnancy Loss Research Group (PLRG) has launched new resources for employers to support women who have experienced pregnancy loss at work.

The toolkit was launched at an event in Cork City Hall in recent days, coinciding with Baby Loss Awareness Week.

Now in its 23rd year, Baby Loss Awareness Week aims to shine a light on pregnancy and baby loss, and to advocate for improvements in care, support and preventive efforts. The week culminates with the Wave of Light, a global event on International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, today, October 15. People light candles at 7pm local time to commemorate babies lost to miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death.

Pregnancy loss affects approximately one in four pregnancies, often before 12 weeks.

A loss at any stage can have emotional, physical and mental impacts on the woman and her partner. Most women who experience pregnancy loss are in the workplace, yet there remains a lack of knowledge about their experience and how best to support them.

PLACES is a project led by the PLRG and commissioned by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, to examine the workplace experiences of people coping with pregnancy loss.

The project primarily focused on women who experience pregnancy loss prior to 24 weeks’ gestation, as after this point, people can avail of full maternity leave and paternity leave entitlements.

Between 2022 and 2023, the group reviewed existing policies in Ireland and internationally, and conducted surveys and interviews with women who had experienced pregnancy loss in the workplace in Ireland in the previous five years.

The research team found that there was a significant gap between the needs of women who experience pregnancy loss and the supports available to them at work. Just 20 out of the 179 ‘best companies in Ireland’ that were contacted shared whether they had a pregnancy loss policy or not. Of those that replied, less than half (9/20) had a specific pregnancy loss policy.

“We know from the national research that some workplaces are very supportive, but we know that many are not. And some of that comes from a lack of knowledge, from a lack of awareness, from a lack of understanding...it’s just that people sometimes don’t know,” says Professor Keelin O’Donoghue, Consultant Obstetrician at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) and Lead, Pregnancy Loss Research Group.

The research highlighted that more support is needed internationally for women returning to work, both in terms of legislation and company policies.

The survey of women with experience of pregnancy loss showed 85% of participants found it difficult to return to work. Supports such as phased return to work, working from home and flexibility were cited as helpful.

There are pieces of legislation being developed to support statutory leave for pregnancy loss, but this is a slow process.

The new toolkit aims to improve support outside of statutory leave.

Dr Tommy Harty and Dr Caoimhe Ní hÉalaithe, doctors in specialist training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, currently based at CUMH, co-led the development of the PLRG Pregnancy Loss and the Workplace Toolkit for Employers and Employees, with Professor O’Donoghue and Marita Hennessy, a researcher within the group.

“There’s a part of it for employees who experience pregnancy loss, so they have information about their rights as an employee and guidance about how to navigate through the workplace after experiencing both in terms of taking time off and coming back to work,” says Professor O’Donoghue.

“A section of it is for work colleagues, so that people can understand amongst their peers what could happen, and also how they can support colleagues who experience pregnancy loss.”

The toolkit contains a number of practical documents that organisations and individuals can use. “We’ve got some sample email templates, so if you’re a manager and you’re replying to somebody, what kind of language you could use? And then, when it comes to the employees, we’ve also got an email template for how you tell your manager something that has happened and that you need some time off. We also have a sample leave policy in there that workplaces could use,” says Professor O’Donoghue.

It covers what language to use and avoid when talking about pregnancy loss. “It’s important to be appropriate and sensitive in the conversation. Not talking about it is also bad. Don’t isolate people or stigmatise them.”

The research showed that many women struggle with returning to work. “People found returning to work really difficult. Most people did tell someone about their pregnancy loss. Many people had physical effects of that pregnancy loss while they were back at work,” says Professor O’Donoghue.

“People felt pressure to return to work, and some people have financial pressure to return to work and won’t be able to take a lot of time off. And while most of the feedback was that people were treated very kindly by their colleagues, by their peers, they weren’t always supported by managers. Some of that is a lack of awareness, a lack of knowledge.

“People have different feelings when they come back to work, particularly for pregnancy loss that might be already announced and recognised. So where people are over 12 weeks or in later pregnancy, around 20 weeks, and everybody knows they’re pregnant, and then suddenly they’re not,” says Professor O’Donoghue.

Tara Woulfe from Cork city spoke at the launch event and has been involved in the PLRG project as a parent advocate following her own experience of pregnancy loss.

In early 2020, Tara lost a baby boy towards the end of her second trimester.

“I was at that point just before 24 weeks, which is a difficult time, because after 24 weeks, on a practical level, you get all the supports like maternity leave…whereas before 24 weeks, you don’t, because if the baby were to be born, it wouldn’t survive outside the womb,” says Tara.

“It’s a difficult time if you’re close to that cut off point. And, as well, everyone knows that you’re pregnant. It’s not something that you can keep a secret.”

She believes the toolkit will help people to be more open in talking about pregnancy loss. “I think there’s a lot of shame around this whole area. And I think the introduction of this toolkit in general, and all this research, it just helps to shine a light on it. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, and people should be able to talk about it.”

Tara says that people don’t need to worry about saying the ‘right’ thing, but it is important to say something.

“I think the worst thing that you can do is say nothing at all, because it’s just like any other loss. You just want it to be acknowledged. It’s important for people to understand that just acknowledging it is all you need to do, and just saying that you’re thinking of the person or you’re sorry for their loss, the same way you would do if they had lost someone else.”

The toolkit is an educational resource, and Tara emphasises that it’s not about being perfect, but trying to support women through loss.

“On a really practical level, it’ll really help women and their partners who experience pregnancy loss, because I think it’ll be a gentler experience for them, and hopefully eliminate anyone saying or doing something that’s really upsetting.”

The PLRG is calling for businesses, professional groups and organisations to endorse the toolkit. It will be freely available online, and groups are welcome to add their logo to it and implement it in their workplace.

“We will host it on our website and on other national websites that we support and work with, and we will be asking the support groups and charities to host it,” says Professor O’Donoghue.

“This is going to be free for people to use. So we really hope that people will endorse it and use it in their organisation.”

• The PLRG has also published a book titled Words at Work, a collection of 23 texts – all direct quotations from people with experience of pregnancy loss who participated in the PLACES project.
• See www.ucc.ie/en/pregnancyloss for more information.