Absenteeism due to sickness for pregnant women

In the period 2005-2007, pregnant women were on average absent from work due to sickness for 48 days during their pregnancy. This is an increase of 5% when compared with the period 2002-2004. In the same period, absenteeism due to sickness among women in general increased by 14%.
The report investigates whether conditions at work and at home as well as being pregnant in general can explain the increase in absenteeism due to sickness during pregnancy. Furthermore, the report investigates whether doctors and midwives have changed their approach and attitude to what prompts them to give the pregnant woman a sick note.
The study showed that, according to the doctors and midwives interviewed, today’s generation does not accept pain in the same manner as previous generations did. This applies to pregnant women as well; an increasing number of pregnant women ask their doctor to issue them a sick note on the basis of regular pregnancy discomfort, such as pelvic pain.
The study is based on questionnaire interviews with almost 2,000 pregnant women and qualitative interviews with four GPs and nine midwives. The survey has been commissioned and financed by the Danish Ministry of Employment.