Summary.
Pregnancy discrimination still occurs frequently in the U.S., and new research shows that it may be linked to poor health outcomes for mothers. There are actionable strategies employers can adopt to reduce detrimental health and well-being outcomes for pregnant employees. Specifically, the data suggests that supportive coworkers and supervisors act as stress-reducing resources for them, and employees who felt supported by both coworkers and supervisors benefitted from the largest reductions in prenatal stress. Furthermore, this reduction in stress was associated with long-term reductions in postpartum depression and quicker physical recovery following the birth of their child. Instead of turning a blind eye to pregnancy discrimination, leaders can promote a more positive organizational environment and offer support by engaging in the five practices discussed here.
Although there are laws against pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, discrimination still occurs frequently. In fact, statistics show that there have been almost 15,000 pregnancy discrimination claims filed in the United States in the past five years. While we know that discrimination can have real consequences for a pregnant employee’s career outcomes, including reduced salary, promotions, and social capital, an outstanding question is whether there are health consequences for pregnant employees or their babies.
To answer this question, we conducted two studies examining the workplace experiences and health outcomes of new mothers and their babies. We found that experiences of pregnancy discrimination linked to an uptick in moms’ stress, which raised their risk for postpartum depression. This stress also led to lower birth weights, lower gestational ages, and an increased number of doctors’ visits for the babies a few weeks after birth. While it may seem obvious that pregnancy discrimination negatively impacts pregnant employees, we were surprised to find that it indirectly impacted the babies they were carrying while they were experiencing the discrimination. This shows the far-reaching implications of workplace discrimination and highlights the importance of addressing it.
Complete Article at HBR