Workplace supports for early pregnancy loss: A scoping review of international literature.
Ruadh Kelly-Harrington, Sara Leitao, Keelin O'Donoghue and 6 others
PMID 39973636WHAT IT FOUND
Workers often take sick or annual leave for early pregnancy loss because specific bereavement leave is unavailable.
They frequently hide the loss due to stigma. Support depends heavily on informal manager kindness rather than formal policy.
Key findings
01Participants generally did not have access to appropriate leave entitlements, and many participants took sick leave, unpaid leave, or were unable to take any leave at all.
02Many participants did not tell anybody in their workplace about their pregnancy loss, meaning no-one at work knew what they were experiencing.
03Support can often be informally received from colleagues and managers, rather than formally provided through the organisation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The review did not appraise the quality or risk of bias of the included studies. Most primary research was conducted in high-income countries, limiting generalisability to other settings. Many included studies examined all types of pregnancy loss, not just those before viability, making it hard to isolate findings for early loss. The review excluded media reports and did not search general internet sources for company policies. Definitions of 'pregnancy loss before viability' varied across included records.
Declared interests
The work was commissioned and funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in the Republic of Ireland. The funders were involved in discussions that informed the conduct and reporting of the review. The authors declared no other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the variation in leave entitlements reported in the included records as evidence of what is legally required in your specific jurisdiction. The review maps existing literature, much of which is outdated or from different countries, and does not provide current legislative advice.