Women are opening up about their experiences of miscarriage in the workplace after Alex Jones revealed she presented The One Show just hours after discovering she had miscarried.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Jones, who is currently pregnant with her second child with husband Charlie Thomson, described discovering the miscarriage in a 14-week scan as feeling like being hit “by a ton of bricks”.
She chose to going on air, despite her boss reassuring her she didn’t need to: “I said: ‘What else am I going to do?’ It’s a horrible feeling because it is so empty. There’s nothing to say. It’s done.”
Women were quick to thank Jones for opening up about the difficult issue.
One Twitter user said: “I had the exact same thing happen to me after IVF 5 months ago, ton of bricks sums it up perfectly. Thanks for sharing your story, I think there’s still a stigma attached to fertility & miscarriage which needs to be broken down.”
Another wrote: “Totally get the anxiety of pregnancy after a loss and needing to work. I lost my first at 28 weeks and went back to work 2 weeks later. Next pregnancy was fretful but have a healthy and happy rainbow baby. Thanks for sharing and #HappyMothersDay.”
And it wasn’t just women responding. “My wife also had a symptomless miscarriage (And four others!),” wrote one man. “Thanks for opening up.”
Jones, 42, gave birth to her first son, Teddy, in January 2017, but discovered she was pregnant again in October 2017 while holidaying in New Zealand with her family. “I didn’t realise for a long time because I had been breastfeeding and your periods don’t come back straight away.”
Speaking about the miscarriage, she said: “I’m not saying it’s easier or harder if you already have [a child]. The sense is at least you have a healthy child, but you remember how it felt at that point, you know what it’s like to hold a baby and the potential is very real.”
Six months later Jones got pregnant again, announcing her pregnancy live on The One Show in December 2018. She has since been vocal about mothers regularly checking on their baby’s movements and seeking medical advice if they are worried.
Women have previously spoken to HuffPost UK about miscarriage and work. Jennie Agg, 32, who experienced three miscarriages in a nine month period in 2017, said her employers were supportive but acknowledged the sensitivities.
“Of course, by telling someone you’ve had a miscarriage, you’re announcing your intention to have a child,” she said. “I could see that it would feel like a risk, career-wise, to do that – especially if you’re on a short-term contract or similar.”
The issue was also part of a recent storyline on BBC3′s Fleabag. After watching the episode, Lizzie, 34, from Essex, told HuffPost UK: “I’m sure a lot of women will identify with that weird feeling of sudden loss and sadness, but also the fact that you just carry on as normal.”