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Bupa Global & UK has partnered with Tommy’s to provide support to employees on their journey to parenthood.
A new partnership between Bupa Global & UK and pregnancy loss charity Tommy’s will give employees of the healthcare firm and their partners access to a midwife-run helpline, as well as providing managers with expert resources to navigate their staff through parenting or pregnancy.
The helpline exists to support prospective parents through their pregnancy journey, while employers can get direct phone advice from Tommy’s midwives about pregnancy and parenting at work, as well as accessing e-learning courses to support an employee through pregnancy, baby loss or pregnancy complications.
Tom Hoosen-Webber, Chief People & Procurement Officer at Bupa Global & UK tells Working Dads, “I’m really proud that we’ve signed up to the Pregnancy and Parenting at Work programme through Tommy’s. Although it can be hard to talk about, sadly sometimes babies are lost during pregnancy, birth or shortly afterwards. It’s something that no one should go through alone, so as an employer we think it’s really important that we speak up and let our people know that they are supported.”
He continues, “Unfortunately there are still stigmas around discussing baby loss and we understand that it can be really hard for those affected to speak up, or to know what to say to someone who’s going through it. That’s why we’re upskilling our managers and being able to work with the Tommy’s experts will be invaluable. I know it will have a big impact on our people at Bupa.”
Tommy’s is the largest UK charity researching the causes of pregnancy complications and loss, with the aim of reducing rates of miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth and neonatal death.
Jacqui Clinton, Fundraising Director at Tommy’s said, “We completely understand that knowing what to say or do when a colleague is impacted by loss isn’t easy – but saying or doing nothing is worse. That’s why it’s fantastic to see organisations like Bupa taking positive action to train their managers so that they can better navigate sensitive conversations around these big life events.”
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