• Lifestyle
• Miscarriage
• Pre-eclampsia
• Premature Birth
• Stillbirth
• Toxoplasmosis

Employment statistics

New and expectant mothers at work

~350,000 pregnant women working per year

~240,000 women who return to work after giving birth

69% of women return to work

£3,500 recruitment and training costs per vacancy

£39m recruitment saving costs if number of mothers returning to work increased by 10 per cent

[source: Department of Trade and Industry]

There are an estimated 305,000 mothers who receive statutory maternity pay (SMP) each year (i.e. who have 6 months length of service), plus a further 55,000 mothers who receive maternity allowance (MA).

[figures from DTI employment relations document]

Nearly 70% of mothers in two-parent families choose to work (over 5 million).

More than half of women with children under 5 return to work

80% of women with children between 5 and 10 work

6 million women work part-time

25% of women knew someone who had experienced problems at work because they were pregnant (including 33% of women aged 25-34 years)

Of the 21% of respondents:

• 16% knew someone who had been dismissed or made redundant
• 26% knew someone who had been given unsuitable work or workloads
• 33% knew someone who had to take time off or was signed off on sick leave because of their pregnancy

[Access Face-to-Face Omnibus survey June 2003, conducted for ECO, sample of 1268 adults]

Tommy's National Pregnancy Week survey, 2004

A third of women over exert themselves during pregnancy

1 in 5 of these women say they over exerted themselves because of pressure from their employer

78% of women interviewed felt unhappy or stressed at different points through their pregnancy