Reduce pregnancy related sick leave

 

Strengthen diversity and employer brand

 

Support your pregnant employee

How to use Erhvervsjordemoder/BusinessMidwife

Erhvervsjordemoder/BusinessMidwife supports the HR effort surrounding the pregnant employees, who, due to their pregnancy, are particularly vulnerable both physically and emotionally.

The BusinessMidwife visits the pregnant employee at her workplace, preferably before the expectant mother and employee starts experiencing pregnancy-related complications. The BusinessMidwife offers preventive antenatal care consultations and supports the pregnant employee throughout the pregnancy with guidance and concrete instructions to increase health and satisfaction.

Erhvervsjordemoder/BusinessMidwife offers customized, safe, secure and health-promoting midwife care at the pregnant woman’s workplace – it is the same, regular and familiar midwife who monitors the pregnant employee. We create a trusting and attentive relation – with a duty of confidentiality – where the pregnant employee can share her thoughts and concerns, safely. The high level of professionalism and strong empathy offered by BusinessMidwife aids the pregnant employee to optimize health, well-being and job satisfaction throughout her pregnancy.

 

Why Erhvervsjordemoder (BusinessMidwife), when free public health care service exists in Denmark?

Because an unbelievable number of pregnant employees are absent owing to illness. According to SFI, The Danish Center for Social Science Research, (Bach, H.B. & Henriksen, A.C.: Gravides sygefravær. SFI 10:07, ISBN: 978-87- 7487-967-1) 65% of pregnant employees are on sick leave before their maternity leave. The average sick leave period lasts 48 days. This is a bad deal for both companies and the pregnant employees.

When a pregnant employee is absent owing to pregnancy-related illness, the company, as a result, has very large unforeseen expenditure on wages, temporary staff and reduced productivity. Due to an unnecessary sick leave, the pregnant employee gets a worse pregnancy, a more complicated delivery and subsequently a greater risk of becoming ill, when she leaves her active everyday life. But pregnancy is not an illness!

 

Management focus on pregnant employees’ life situation

The experience of Erhvervsjordemoder/BusinessMidwife demonstrates that the dialogue between manager and pregnant employee is vital to the reduction of extended sick leave. Both regular midwife antenatal counseling, adjustment of specific working conditions as well as increased information and communication with the manager are important features in enhancing the well-being of pregnant employees. Therefore, BusinessMidwife offers workshops for the day-to-day managers with the aim of increasing the attention on the pregnant employees’ special life situation at the workplace and introducing tools for communication, thereby enabling the day-to-day manager and the pregnant employee to cooperate concerning altered work content and organization when needed. In that way, it is possible to retain the pregnant employees at the workplace either fully or partially right up to their maternity leave.

75% of absences owing to pregnancy-related illness can be prevented

Experts estimate that 75% of sick leaves can be prevented. The pregnant employees are ill-prepared for the pregnancy, the course of the pregnancy and work during the pregnancy. The general practitioners will often, as a precaution, report the pregnant employee ill, on behalf of pregnancy related – and potentially temporary – discomforts and pains.

Pregnancy is not an illness

A midwife is a specialist in pregnancy and childbirth. She can professionally guide the pregnant employee to a healthy and happy pregnancy with none or very few discomforts, which is possible in the vast majority of cases. Needless to say, a midwife can also spot the cases where a sick leave IS necessary.

Speaking

 

You can book Camilla Brinch for a lecture/talk on healthy and happy pregnancies in your company. Camilla addresses both expectant mothers and fathers – and anyone interested. Among other things, she talks about what it is like to be pregnant in today’s Denmark, about pregnancy for career women, what you can use your midwife for – and tips and tricks during pregnancy for expectant fathers and mothers.