What to include in a fertility and pregnancy support policy (2025)

What to include in a fertility and pregnancy support policy (1)

Source: Natali _ Mis

  • An important starting point is for employers to ask their employees what they need, as no individual or circumstance will be the same.
  • Flexible working accommodations and time off for appointments are important to include.
  • Training and sensitivity around difficult topics can help to foster an open and supportive workplace.

Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) data, published in October 2024, revealed that the fertility rate in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level on record, at 1.44 children per woman. There could be many reasons for this low rate, such as the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on a person’s ability to afford to raise a child, as well as NHS waiting lists impacting the fertility and pregnancy support that people can receive.

In order to support employees who are affected by these issues, or who are in the process of starting a family, employers can establish workplace assistance, such as dedicated policies and accessible benefits.

Creating a support policy

As both may have separate requirements to some degree, the first step to creating fertility and pregnancy support is to ensure that these are two individual policies. Employers should also start by asking their employees what support they need.

Having an accessible policy is key to creating a stigma-free culture so that employees feel comfortable in the workplace, explainsSeema Duggal, officer at Fertility in the Workplace.“This helps employers attract and retain the best talent,” she says. ”A policy should support partners regardless of their gender, and must be clear and concise, so both line managers and employees can understand what they are entitled to.”

Once a policy is in place, employers should ensure their workforce is aware of it. To do this, they could assign a fertility ambassador to open conversations to let employees know what support is available, as well as launch a dedicated employee network populated with experienced staff tosignpost andprovide guidance on fertility, planned parenthood and pregnancy.

Eileen Burbidge, executive director of Fertifa, says: “Given how many individuals seek assistance while they are becoming parents, [for exampleLGBTQ+]individuals will need some form of help in order to become a parent, it’s crucial to have policies supporting journeys to becoming parents that are accessible to all.”

Benefits to include

Policies that encourage and enable staff to seek support without judgement, and allow employees to know what help is available without having to disclose any information they do not wish to, is crucial.

Flexibility, or remote working, are necessary since any required time off may not be all at once, over consecutive days, or in any certain stage of a cycle or trimester of pregnancy,” says Burbridge. ”Fertility, pregnancy and family-forming policies should include flexible-working accommodations and time off for appointments, scans, adjusting to medication, injections, stimulation, egg collection and embryo transfer. They should also apply to partners and surrogates of those undergoing treatment cycles or pregnancy.”

Leave can also be taken for fertility or high-risk pregnancy procedures, mental health appointments or bereavement, if an employee has experienced a pregnancy or baby loss.

Policies can include unlimited leave, a set number of paid days with the option of additional unpaid leave, and phased returns. For pregnant employees, employers could offer paid time off for antenatal care that includes travel time, workplace adjustments following a risk assesment, such as flexible working if needed, and access to counsellors and trained midwives through dedicated providers. In addition to introducing an employee network that offers specific support for parents to be or those trying to conceive, employers can also apply tobe a Pregnancy and Parenting at Work Champion through charity Tommy’s accreditation scheme.

Maternity, paternity and shared parental leave and pay are statutory requirements, but some organisations will provide enhanced versions of these to offer more support and include those who adopt or use a surrogate.

“The process can be mentally and physically exhausting; the average person going through an IVF cycle can need between eight to 10 flexible working days,” says Duggal. “Policies could also stipulate a designated member of staff to speak to for support, and signpost to charities.”

Organisations could consider funding treatment or diagnostics to help support employees’ financial burden, as well as offering private medical insurance (PMI). If doing so, they should ensure theyrecognise all paths to parenthood, including in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), adoption, surrogacy, egg extraction, and egg, sperm and embryo freezing,which can be offered to employees who have not met a partner by the time they are ready to start a family. Organisations can choose to fund and/or provide access to this service as an employee benefit through specialist providers, as well as support for health screening for fertility testing, blood tests and pelvic ultrasound scans.

If they do not have the budget to fund such benefits, they could work with a provider that offers interest and fee-free payment plans for staff.

Clare Worgan, head of training and education at Sands, says: “A best-practice support policy should offer emotional and physical healing assistance tailored to employees’ needs. Access to counselling via employee assistance programmes is useful, as is signposting to support charities.”

Employers should also offer preventative care that provides health, hormones and fertility insights to empower employees to make informed decisions about their futures, explainsAli Hutcheson, head of people at Hertility.“By taking a proactive approach to wellbeing, fertility, and reproductive health conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis and fibroids, employers can improve employees’ health,” she says.

Navigating difficult conversations

Organisations should bear in mind that for employees with fertility difficulties or who have experienced a pregnancy or baby loss, it can be triggering to see pregnancy support information, so they should exercise caution when communicating assistance.

“In order to reflect a safe space for potentially difficult conversations, employers should recognise that not everyone experiences these events or situations in the same way,” says Burbidge. “Every individual and circumstance is different, so HR and line managers should consider that they may not know what the employee is going through. They should ask and listen, understanding that some may want less involvement than others.”

In order to normalise discussions and ensure that staff feel safe talking about what they are going through, employers need to foster an open and inclusive culture.

“They should also equip managers with the skills to handle conversations empathetically and confidentially, and signpost to external professional support,” says Hutcheson. ”Ensuring these conversations are followed up is key.”

Trying to conceive following a pregnancy or baby losscan be mentally and physically challenging, and difficult for managers to speak to employees about, as it can be a very sensitive subject.“Bereavement-in-the-workplace training, designed to provide insights and confidence to speak with employees about difficult journeys to parenthood that include pregnancy and baby loss, is useful,” says Worgan. ”This helps build a culture that acknowledges grief and gives space and time for emotional healing.”

Fertility and pregnancysupport should, therefore, encompass a range of assistance that reassures employees that their employer cares about all aspects of their journeys.

What to include in a fertility and pregnancy support policy (2025)
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