Pregnancy and Maternity Protections – Know Your Rights!
This article outlines the legal protections for pregnant employees and new parents, highlighting discrimination risks and workplace rights.
Created: 27 August 2025
Last Reviewed: 11 February 2026
Contents
Introduction
A recent survey by the charity ‘Pregnant Then Screwed’ found the following concerning statistics after surveying 24,000 mothers on the workplace challenges they faced*:
- over half of all mothers (52%) faced some form of discrimination when pregnant, on maternity leave or when they returned;
- 1 in 5 mothers left their job following a negative or discriminatory experience; and
- 7% of women lost their job through redundancy, sacking, or feeling forced to leave due to a flexible working request being declined or due to health and safety issues.
Against this backdrop, it is perhaps unsurprising that pregnancies in the UK dropped to their lowest since 1977 in 2023**. But does it have to be this way? What protections are there for pregnant women and new mothers?
What are ‘pregnancy rights’?
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