Miscarriage in the Workplace: an Authoethnography

Abstract

This paper is an extension of the literature on pregnancy and work, and it introduces miscarriage as an important topic of study in management. Miscarriage starts with a pregnancy, so a woman who has miscarried deals with many of the same workplace issues as women who carry to term. The experience of miscarriage, however, often leads to physical and emotional trauma and/or grief that many women hide from their co‐workers. In this paper we also explore how secrecy is an integral part of the miscarriage experience. The combination of secrecy and grief that is layered on top of a difficult physical experience makes miscarriage a unique experience that, to date, has mostly been ignored in management literature and practice. It is well documented that contemporary corporate structures have little room for addressing procreation, health and grief, it is perhaps unsurprising then that despite miscarriage being seen as a relatively common event it remains silenced.

Women in the Workplace: Promoting Healthy Lifestyles and Mitigating Weight Gain during the Preconception, Pregnancy, and Postpartum Periods

“…This 'contact point' could provide crucial access to health promotion for preconception women, including women not planning a pregnancy, and for women not in frequent contact with a healthcare setting. Furthermore, this approach acknowledges the possibility of any preconception woman, at any given time, to be undergoing a 'pregnancy experience', that is a pregnancy, a miscarriage or a stillbirth [24]. Explorative qualitative studies are essential to understand the scope of the individual needs specific to working women.…”

“…Such an intervention would also allow the possibility to include resources for team members, managers and human resources so that they can ensure they have the appropriate knowledge and skills to support women during this time. This could be considered particularly important for preconception women and women in the first trimester of pregnancy who may not be ready to share their private experiences within a public workspace [24].…”

I lost my baby today: Embodied writing and learning in organizations

“…It creates a space where others might see themselves’ (Pelias, 2005: 418). However, the article needed a better analytical/evocative balance, brought by the second author, as we wanted to use the methodology of autoethnography not just to expose but also to problematize experiences (Porschitz and Siler, 2017: 569) and this was made easier with having someone else involved in the writing process. Second, being so close to the subject matter, it was difficult for the first author alone to critically recognize instances of unconscious resistance to systemic and professional norms within her experience (discussed more below) and a secondary perspective, therefore, also helped identify critical nodes of resistance.…”

“…Herein, we present a personal account of miscarriage within a professional context (written as ‘ I/ I ’ and ‘We’ in the autoethnographic sections below, as opposed to ‘ we’, denoting both authors in the main text of the article). While the article contributes to the need to explore silenced topics connected to the body, the senses and emotions in organizations, and more particularly to the discussion on miscarriage (Porschitz and Siler, 2017; Weaver-Hightower, 2012), its contribution also lies in presenting a different type of writing as a form of resistance to traditional, masculine forms of organizing and understanding. Thus, we advocate the need to write differently in and of organizations on three levels: in terms of method, content and style , to explore alternative, qualitative and personal methods of learning that are often rejected in mainstream platforms.…”

Le décès périnatal comme bifurcation temporelle : les parcours de vie de femmes après une fausse couche

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Par ailleurs, la fausse-couche peut avoir des conséquences sur les différentes sphères de vie des parents touchés : la sphère conjugale avec des tensions dans le couple [11] et une plus grande probabilité de séparation, [12] la sphère familiale et sociale avec un soutien inégal, inconstant et souvent éphémère de même qu'une remise en question du rôle social de la femme en cas d'échec de la maternité, [13][14][15] ainsi que la sphère professionnelle, à la fois source de malaise et stratégie d'adaptation. [11,16] Les enjeux liés à la fausse couche sont en effet de plus en plus documentés ; on est loin désormais de la « conspiration du silence » qui régnait avant les années 1980. [17] Toutefois, l'impact de la fausse couche sur les parcours de vie des femmes demeure très peu examiné.…”