Submitted June 23rd 2026

When a promotion opportunity came up at six months pregnant, I was anxious.

I’d been waiting for this moment for 18 months and was the clear frontrunner. But I’d been denied a promotion twice with my previous employer – disregarded both times due to being on maternity leave.

This time, I tried to convince myself it would be different. And it was. My interview went well (despite baby kicking me the entire time!) and I was promoted to my dream role.

It was an exciting step forward – and hugely healing of my previous experiences too.

I threw myself into my new role, before taking a nine-month maternity leave. During that time, things at the company began to change. Redundancies, restructures, revised responsibilities.

My job survived, until five days after I returned to work, when I learnt the entire department was being made at-risk of redundancy. The job I’d waited for, had worked so hard for, had adored every second of, was being completely erased.

It was heartbreaking, but I needed to focus on what was important. I work from home so I can look after my little one and be nearby for my oldest two who are at school. All that mattered was securing a suitable alternative role with my employer. Career ambitions could come later.

The redundancies were part of a restructure, which meant there were a small batch of newly created roles available. They were all unsuitable except one – a job identical to one I’d done with a previous employer.

It was a step down. A step back. But it was steady employment that meant I could provide for my kids.

But the threat of discrimination started to loom. When I highlighted the role as a suitable alternative, my employer disagreed.

“You haven’t been mapped to anything.”

“Suitability is ambiguous.”

“We don’t discriminate here – we promoted you when you were pregnant.”

It became obvious they’d planned to replace all of us with an entirely new team, but hadn’t realised the Redundancy Protection Period extends 18 months after a baby is born. I could tell from the look on my manager’s face when I first mentioned it.

There began a month-long battle over what “suitable” meant. And I wasn’t just fighting for myself. One of my colleagues had to announce her pregnancy way earlier than she wanted to because her role was also at risk. Every step was demoralising.

Until I called Pregnant then Screwed.

The advisor I spoke to was incredible – she reminded me of my rights and reassured me exactly what “suitable” meant. It allowed me to approach my next consultation with a newfound confidence.

Progress was finally made. I was offered an “informal chat” to discuss the role in more detail. Although it was clearly an interview in disguise (which those in the redundancy protected period don’t need to have), I went through the motions.

Later that day, I was offered the role.

My colleague also contacted PTS for help – and managed to secure a suitable alternative role too.

A 100% discrimination rate across my three pregnancies would’ve been a shocking statistic. And it’s thanks to PTS that the outcome was different this time. I have a job, I have a pay check and I get to work from home with my baby.

For anyone else going through this, talking to PTS can change everything. They empowered me with the knowledge that suitability is based on your wider skills, experience and capabilities, not how similar a role is to your current job. It’s about being confident in what you’ve already achieved – and what you’re capable of doing next.

So my advice to everyone is simple. Know the law. Know your rights.

But most importantly, know your worth.