Returning to work early from maternity leave can have a huge impact on the mental and physical health of new mums and their babies, and there are stats to show it already has. NHS data from August 2022 – March 2023 showed an 8% increase in new mothers accessing support for mental health services on the NHS.

“We have also seen an increase in infant mortality in the UK,” said Fabianski. “Poverty has a significant impact on the risk of stillbirth and death during infancy. Ultimately, it is a false economy to not pay parental leave at a rate at which families can survive and thrive and the knock-on effects are lasting.”

Pregnant Then Screwed is hearing from women who, on their return to the workplace, are told by their bosses not to mention that they’d just had a baby when talking to customers. “Like it’s something to be ashamed of,” said Fabianski. “But without proper rates of maternity pay, women are left with no other choice.”

Without intervention, there are concerns from charities working with new mothers that there will be a continued increase in the number of new mothers accessing mental health services and devastating data on infant mortality rates.

“These numbers will continue to rise if we do not support mothers to have the maternity leave that they desperately want,” concluded Fabianski. “If we want a well-functioning society then we need to support the very people that are bringing children into the world. We need to see the rate of statutory parental leave pay increased to meet the national living wage, which is the legal minimum wage a person should be paid to be able to live. Asking mothers to survive on less than half of this amount for 33 weeks is barbaric – and it’s not working.”

Maternity leave crisis: 3 in 4 mothers return to work earlier than planned due to financial impact