TOP TAKE-AWAY: BREAKING THE SILENCE IN THE WORKPLACE

For those of you who have experienced pregnancy loss, you are quite familiar with the silence that surrounds it. This is especially true in the workplace. Approximately 47% of women in the workplace have experienced a miscarriage and have grieved in silence because of the perception that society is not open to hearing womens’ stories of loss. This results in silence becoming a default response and women keeping their pregnancy a secret in the workplace in fear of being judged by their co-workers. Often times, when women share their experience of miscarriage at work, their co-workers do not know how to handle or respond to the situation - further enforcing the belief that women should not share their feelings of loss and grief.

Another reason that women may want to remain silent is to avoid having inaccurate stories being spread around the workplace and to protect their privacy until they are comfortable enough to share. Further, women may feel that staying silent can also help them prevent sudden emotional responses in the workplace, since such emotional responses are common upon discussing one’s loss, but often discouraged in the workplace.

Women should not have to grieve in silence - they should always be given the opportunity to grieve in a way that benefits them. Some women may not want to share - and their decision to remain private should be respected. Other women may find it helpful to talk with others about their experience - and that decision should be respected as well. A supportive workplace is one where people can grieve as openly as they need - which starts with breaking the silence, acknowledging a co-worker’s grief, and giving that person the opportunity to talk about their loss, if that is what they decide they need.

Reference

Porschitz, E. T., & Siler, E. A. (2017). Miscarriage in the workplace: An authoethnography. Gender, Work & Organization, 24(6), 565–578. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12181