Pregnancy and Maternity

Definition

Pregnancy is the condition of being pregnant or expecting a baby. Maternity refers to the period after the birth, and protection against maternity discrimination is for 26 weeks after giving birth.

The protected characteristic of pregnancy and maternity applies to a student who:

  • is or has been pregnant
  • has given birth and is treated unfavourably within a period of 26 weeks beginning with the day on which they gave birth
  • is breastfeeding and is treated unfavourably within the period of 26 weeks beginning with the day on which they gave birth.

Outside the 26-week period the student may be protected by the sex discrimination provisions. This includes treating a pregnant person unfavourably because they are breastfeeding.

Sources and more info: Student pregnancy and maternity: implications for higher education institutions, Advance HE

How this applies to Higher Education

While Higher Education institutions have typically led the way in providing for staff who are pregnant or with childcare responsibilities, these policies, procedures and support options have not necessarily translated across for students.  UCL does have a pregnancy and adoption policy for students, including maternity-related absence.

Once a student informs UCL of their pregnancy – usually via their personal tutor, supervisor, programme tutor, departmental tutor or other trusted member of staff – the department should conduct a risk assessment related to their studies and develop a pregnancy support plan to ensure reasonable adjustments are made, including when a student resumes their studies. Information about a student’s pregnancy should be treated sensitively and should be passed on only with the student’s consent.

It is important that you do not assume that all students will proceed with their pregnancy. Students need to be able to make choices and be provided with information without judgement or assumptions being made. Regardless of the decision a student ends up making, they will require support and possible adjustments.

If a student approaches you for advice on their pregnancy and you are not qualified to give advice on women’s health, you should refer them to a qualified professional which could be UCL’s counselling service, their GP or family planning clinic.

The Students’ Union also have an advice page for pregnant students.

Common Issues

Pregnancy

  • Discrimination against pregnant women during admission or selection for further opportunities during their studies e.g., placements
  • Language used (depending on whether a student decides to continue with their pregnancy or not)
  • Inappropriate advice/comments/assumptions e.g., the pregnancy is unwanted or unplanned
  • Implications for course completion (with an expectation to defer), including arrangements that could be made for assessments, catching up on missed seminars and lectures, course placements, time to attend healthcare appointments, maternity-related absence, etc
  • Taking longer away from studies that anticipated

Maternity (and beyond)

Although maternity covers the first 26 weeks after giving birth, many of the difficulties covered below will obviously persist beyond that period and many students will begin university with dependent children. UKHEIs are not required to collect data on student parents and so it is impossible to know the exact numbers of student parents, making it hard to allocate appropriate resources to effectively support this group of students who encounter:

  • Limited childcare funding available
  • Complex student support arrangements e.g. understanding exactly what they are entitled to and how to claim for support/benefits
  • Inaccessible teaching practices e.g., early evening classes, lack of dedicated class time to carry out learning activities, strict attendance targets, delayed release of timetables or last-minute changes
  • Little or no time to take part in wider student life
  • Limited family accommodation/facilities on campus

Source: Meet the Parents, NUS Connect

Suggested responses

Teaching

  • Making arrangements for teaching that assume legitimate non-attendance (eg recording lectures, making materials available as flexibly as possible)
  • Support and information to continue studies rather than deferring, which might be particularly important near to the end of courses
  • Authorising absences for maternity appointments, maternity-related illness and post-natal appointments
  • Being flexible about breast-feeding which might include helping with a private room if there are not adequate facilities already
  • Varying the mode of study so that students can return part-time unless there is there is clear justification to decline the request which needs to be provided in writing.

Assessment and exams

  • Providing alternative assessment methods and deadline extensions, especially where the student has been advised by medical professionals that the current assessment methods could exacerbate pregnancy-related health conditions e.g., exam stress. This will probably also be true for students who terminate a pregnancy and additional consideration should be given to students who have had to terminate a pregnancy for health-related reasons (theirs or the baby) or experienced a miscarriage, still birth or neonatal death and who then go on to get pregnant again as they may be more likely to experience a problematic pregnancy and will require more monitoring.
  • Providing more comfortable exam conditions for expectant mothers (more frequent rest and bathroom breaks, more supportive chair)
  • Arrangements for students to sit examinations or take alternative forms of assessment during maternity-related absence, if a student wishes, to meet course requirements.
  • Support plan for when a student returns, including a transition period and additional support to integrate back into studies. This could include things like ‘welcome back’ meetings with key staff in the department

Further resources