Tens of thousands of mothers forced out of work in UK

The research also found around 20% of new mothers experienced harassment or negative comments from their colleagues, employer or manager when pregnant or returning from maternity leave.

Around 54,000 new mothers a year lose their jobs through pregnancy and maternity discrimination, according to research by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

One in five mothers experience negativity from their employer when they are pregnant or returning from maternity leave.

More than one in 10 women said they were dismissed, made redundant or treated so badly they had no option but to quit, a poll found.

When mothers were allowed to work flexibly, around half of them reported feeling their opinion was less valued.

Two thirds of employers said they do not think pregnancy puts an unreasonable cost burden on the workplace.

Currently, women wishing to bring forward pregnancy discrimination claims face charges of up to £1,200.

Job insecurity is making women unlikely to complain about discrimination.

“When women are forced out of work it’s a terrible waste of skills and talents which this country needs”, she said. Enei chief executive Denise Keating called the findings were “highly disappointing”.

Discrimination against pregnant women and those on maternity leave is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010 in the UK. “Evidence shows that missing antenatal appointments can increase the risk of smaller babies, premature babies, miscarriages and stillbirth”, she added. “This can lead to costly implications for the NHS but most importantly it can have potentially devastating effects on the health of the woman and her baby”.

Rosalind Bragg, director of Maternity Action, said: “Funding is urgently needed for specialist advice and support for women to pursue unfair and unlawful treatment by their employer. They will also raise awareness with employers on the best ways to support their staff”.

Dianah Worman, diversity adviser for the CIPD, said: “It’s time for employers to do some housekeeping in their organisations to make sure hidden problems and difficulties are surfaced and dealt with quickly to ensure they have both diverse and inclusive working environments. It’s nonsense for talent to be wasted and discrimination in pregnancy and maternity, whether intended or not, is an urgent area to be addressed”.

Shadow women and equalities minister Gloria De Piero said: “These are truly shocking findings”.

However, the research suggests that for some women pregnancy and maternity at work was not a positive experience.