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Chapter 1: What challenges do modern women face regarding work and motherhood?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance.
Today's women have been raised to believe that they can have it all, the job, the babies, the whole shebang. But much of that relies on maternity leave and the support of the law to protect it. Some evidence now shows that pregnancy discrimination is on the rise. So is the promise of women's equal standing in the workplace at risk? Newstalk's Sarah Madden reports.
In a house in North Dublin, a little baby girl has just been put down for a nap.
So she's, she's, yeah, she's adored. She's a very good baby. She's cute. It's lovely.
Claire, her mother, is embracing every moment with her daughter after quite a tumultuous third trimester. I think out of all the stress, I was given a very good baby.
LAUGHTER
I know that sounds crazy, but I have.
But it wasn't illness putting pressure on the soon-to-be mum. At 33 weeks pregnant, Claire was made redundant.
I don't want to say, because of this I got this. Sometimes it feels like that, that I was given a rough ride so I got a good baby, but that's not the way it should be.
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Chapter 2: How is pregnancy discrimination manifesting in the workplace?
We've altered her voice for this report and we're leaving out any identifiable information about the company in question. But Clare's former employer is an Irish-born organisation with global reach in a male-dominated industry.
So I was in the role for just under two years, I'd say like two weeks under two years. And I loved it. It was really challenging. I really enjoyed it. It was a global environment and I really liked my colleagues and I was doing really, really well. And so much so that I got a pay increase the Christmas before. And then I found out I was pregnant before Christmas.
I told work just after Christmas, so I was about 13 weeks pregnant because I was nervous telling them. You know, you want to be like, I want to help out. I want to make sure that my work is handed over. And I told work, you know, it was congratulations, well done, this is so exciting.
Chapter 3: What personal experiences illustrate the impact of redundancy during pregnancy?
And then as the months went on, I kept on asking, so what's my cover going to be like? Because when I go, what I do still needs to be done. And I didn't really hear that much. So I started compiling my work and kind of saying, right, this is how you can break it up.
And I even started interviewing externally people for the role, but I just never got any sign off to say this is how it's going to be done. Then it came to 33 weeks pregnant and I was told, you will get your maternity pay. However, you are also being made redundant. They said it was because activities and focus within the organisation was changing.
But it was just very interesting timelines that I was made redundant, 33 weeks pregnant.
In 2025, the Workplace Relations Commission reported a 24% increase in gender-related and family status complaints on the year previous. In Clare's local mother and baby group, this apparent surge in maternity discrimination is on full view.
It's shocking to a lot of people when I tell them what has happened. But the more I talk to people, the more you hear how tough it is to actually go on maternity leave. I've heard of people where it's very difficult to sign off from work. to be given any support. I know people coming back from work where promotions are out of the question because they've taken maternity leaves.
There's judgment in terms of how long people take a maternity leave. I've heard that a lot. And I know in the US, for example, at the moment, there's a lot of companies that are reducing maternity leave. Now, the US is a different story, but a lot of the US companies are here. You know, what's stopping them from rescinding that back here? Yeah, it's scary.
Ireland purports to have robust legal protections in place for pregnant women. But in reality, things can play out very differently.
In Ireland, the laws look good on paper, but in practice, way too many pregnant women are still being pushed out.
Rebecca Horne is Head of Communications and Campaigns for the wonderfully named charity Pregnant Then Screwed.
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Chapter 4: What statistics highlight the rise in maternity discrimination complaints?
And it's a lie and it's devastating.
That's Claire again.
Okay, my deepest anger, in my deepest anger, I thought, oh, they don't want it. They want to send a message that you can't just come to this company and get pregnant. Yeah, I try not to think about it too much. It just really annoys me because I don't agree with any valid reason I come up with. Because I know the work I did still has to be done.
And it's just an easy win for them to take out someone that's on maternity leave. I mean, I felt very stressed. I think pregnancy, I definitely was running on adrenaline. But post-pregnancy, I definitely struggled. I think physically and mentally, it was just very, very stressful and not an enjoyable, blissful time that you would expect. And a lot of people have said to me, oh, aren't you lucky?
You know, aren't I lucky that I got maternity pay? Yes, I'm lucky that I got maternity pay, but I don't have a job. And it feels like, you know, sometimes are they trying to take away my career? And now I'm trying to claw that back.
The Clare Byrne Show with Aviva Insurance. Weekday mornings at nine on Newstalk. Conversation that counts.
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