What women want: Why we need to end workplace taboos on reproductive health

Lauren Crosby Medlicott speaks to women going through pregnancy, infertility and menopause about how their companies failed them, and how we can make it better

Many things affect a woman’s ability to perform 24/7 – and they are often discriminated against, forgotten or ignored (Getty)

It’s no secret that women face challenges in the workplace resulting from changes in their bodies far beyond their control. PMT, menstruation, pregnancy, infertility, IVF and menopause bring with them a host of symptoms that may affect a woman’s ability to perform at the top of her game 24/7. Unfortunately, instead of being met with support in the workplace, she is often discriminated against, forgotten, whispered about, ignored, and made to feel like a second-class employee because she is a woman.

After seven years of climbing the career ladder in her PR agency, Annabel Lee became pregnant with her first child in 2016. “Everything was really positive until the six-week mark,” Annabel tells The Independent. “I started throwing up constantly from that point.”

Diagnosed with hyperemesis, Annabel was sick multiple times each day: on her commute, at work, in meetings. Even though she wasn’t keen to announce her pregnancy until 12 weeks, Annabel informed her boss she was pregnant at eight weeks to give her advance notice in case her sickness started to impact her work. “She was really supportive, pleased for me, and congratulatory,” Annabel says. Even though her boss didn’t directly discriminate against Annabel in any way, Annabel felt the weight of not being able to work as efficiently as she had before. “I felt out of control. I had been quite focused and driven at work, but when I was sick, that was beyond my control. I couldn’t fully focus on my career. Couldn’t go above and beyond. Couldn’t think about career progression.”