Written by Morgan Whitfield
Morgan Whitfield is an experienced senior leader and professional development consultant who advocates high-challenge learning. Morgan hails from Canada and has taken on such roles as Director of Teaching and Learning, Head of Sixth Form, Head of Humanities and Head of Scholars. Her book Gifted? The Shift to Enrichment, Challenge and Equity, reframed “gifted” education as a mandate to provide enrichment and challenge for all students. She is a passionate advocate for equity in education, a BSO inspector, radio show host and mother of three brilliant little ones. Morgan has worked with schools across the Middle East, Asia and the UK and currently lives in Vietnam.
I remember the day I had to tell senior leadership that I needed to leave lessons and go to the doctor because I was bleeding. I sent out cover work in the hospital waiting room. Later, I had to tell the same colleagues that I would no longer need maternity leave. The conversations were devastating. The classroom kept moving forward, yet I was stalled. I am not alone in this.
Pregnancy loss is often described as a silent grief. For women in education, the silence is compounded by the relentless rhythm of school life. Our jobs involve performance, we must be the support for our students, and this demands our complete mental and emotional presence. Teachers are expected to stand in front of classes, to smile and be steady, even when their personal lives are marked by loss. With women making up three-quarters of the education workforce in the UK (DfE, 2022), the absence of open conversation about pregnancy loss is striking.
I have been there with colleagues through the heartbreak of miscarriage, and through the long, uncertain path of fertility treatments. One colleague once asked for a mental health day on what would have been her due date, a vivid reminder that grief is not linear and anniversaries bring waves of pain. Another shared the exhausting cycle of appointments, medications, and pregnancy tests that defined her attempts to conceive. These stories are part of school life, but they are rarely spoken aloud or formally recognised in policy.
Why Pregnancy Loss Matters in Education
Most schools have no specific structures or training in place to guide leaders or support staff. Teachers can feel forced to suppress grief in order to keep lessons going. When this happens, schools risk not only the wellbeing of staff but also the culture of care that should define education.
Pregnancy loss is both a medical event and a profound emotional rupture. Physically, it can involve surgery, recovery, and the exhaustion that follows. Emotionally, it brings grief for a future imagined but never lived. The disconnect between the devastation inside and the professionalism demanded outside can be unbearable. Without recognition or space, teachers risk feeling invisible in their grief.
Supporting staff through pregnancy loss and fertility journeys requires compassion and clarity. Three areas stand out:
- Policy and Procedure
Schools should establish clear leave policies that explicitly cover pregnancy loss at every stage and ensure staff understand their entitlements. Leadership need practical guidance on responding with sensitivity so that no member of staff feels dismissed. It is equally important that counselling and wider wellbeing services are easy to access and signposted without stigma.
- Culture and Conversation
A supportive culture begins with openly acknowledging pregnancy loss within staff wellbeing policies rather than treating it as a taboo subject. Leaders should be trained to respond with empathy and avoid minimising comments such as “at least you were not far along” or “at least you can try again”. Schools can recognise that grief can resurface around anniversaries of loss and offer staff the flexibility they need at these times.
- Practical Wellbeing Support
Staff deserve practical arrangements that help them re-enter work at a pace that feels manageable, such as phased timetables or temporary workload adjustments. Schools should protect time for medical appointments and mental health recovery. Peer networks or mentoring can provide a valuable source of connection and understanding for those navigating pregnancy loss or fertility treatment.
Workplace pledges, such as those promoted by the Miscarriage Association, provide clear frameworks that schools can adapt. These signal that loss will be handled with dignity and consistency, rather than silence and improvisation.
Schools often pride themselves on teaching empathy to children. We must apply the same principle to one another. Pregnancy loss and fertility journeys should not be taboo in education. When schools speak about them openly, they dismantle stigma. When institutions act with compassion, they protect not only the colleague in pain but also the integrity of the profession. Looking back, what made the difference for me were tangible acts. A colleague who offered to cover a lesson when I needed space. A quiet word that acknowledged my grief as real. These should be built into the school’s structures through purposeful policy and sensitive implementation.
References
Department for Education (DfE) (2022) School workforce in England: Reporting year 2022. Available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk (Accessed: 26 September 2025).
Education Support (2022) Teacher wellbeing index 2022. London: Education Support.
Miscarriage Association (n.d.) Pregnancy loss in the workplace: Guidance and charter. Available at: https://www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/miscarriage-and-the-workplace/the-pregnancy-loss-pledge/ (Accessed: 26 September 2025).