Pregnant in Dubai: How pregnancy impacts women's careers in 2021

In an period when Jacinda Ardern can tackle the position of New Zealand prime minister and ship her first child eight months later, or when Marissa Mayer might be employed as the brand new CEO of Yahoo whereas six months’ pregnant, is it nonetheless related to wonder if being pregnant is a hindrance to a lady’s profession development?

Very a lot so, based on company and business lawyer Kokila Alagh, founding father of the award-winning Karm Authorized regulation agency, in an unique interview with Gulf Information. At the moment pregnant together with her second child, Kokila firmly believes {that a} child bump ought to by no means be a pace bump in a lady’s profession. But she says that, in her expertise, stereotypes and discrimination in opposition to pregnant girls within the office are nonetheless very a lot alive and kicking internationally:

“I have been fortunate that my clients in general have been supportive through my first and second pregnancies. But I feel very strongly when that’s not the case,” says Kokila, who is because of give start in Dubai this summer time. “In one recent interaction with a well-established investment advisory, my ability to deliver on a potential assignment was questioned on account of my pregnancy. We were close to a deal and I was asked about my maternity leave. When I said that would not make a difference as it would be like any other annual leave, I had to listen to some unwarranted comments on the inclination of some women to choose a career over family by continuing to work during pregnancy. Needless to say, I did not proceed with the deal.”

Kokila stated when she began speaking to others about it, she realised she was not the one one to have had such an expertise. “There is a sub-conscious bias and apprehension about pregnancy. Many young women I spoke to said they would not be given important assignments when they were pregnant.”

Kokila says that each ladies and men from all completely different cultures might be responsible of bias in opposition to pregnant girls. “This is not a gendered reaction or a cultural reaction. We work with many clients from the MENA and EU regions, but they have not had any such concerns. Yet the mindset that the workload of pregnant women should be reduced or managed, otherwise they might not be able to deliver on account of their pregnancy, is prevalent globally, despite advances in levels of education, social awareness and technology.”

That is one thing that Abeer Al Tamimi, Emirati CEO of Dubai-based play space Youngsters HQ and mum of two, additionally identifies with. “When I fell pregnant with my second child 15 years ago, I was working in the male-dominated industry of Banking and Finance. I was in my mid-20s, filled with drive and ambition to build a career. But I started to notice that a lot of my colleagues would comment as if being pregnant meant I was impaired. ‘Oh Abeer can’t visit that client’, or ‘Abeer can’t travel to London,’ they would say.”

Working within the aggressive world of finance for a British firm, Abeer says a few of her friends had been utilizing her being pregnant as a purpose to undermine her professionally.

“I quickly realized that people were not only judging me and speaking for me, but they were being opportunists! But I also knew that I didn’t want to let my pregnancy stop me from getting the career goals I wanted. I put in the long hours, I didn’t apply for half time (which they offered me), and I worked up until the day I gave birth. I ended up getting the promotion I wanted.”

Now that she runs her personal firm at Youngsters HQ, Abeer has taken the learnings from her personal expertise being pregnant at work to tell how she treats her personal workers after they change into pregnant. “I encourage my female staff to embrace their pregnancies,” she says. “They have nothing to worry about. Because of the nature and scope of our work, they are able to bring their infants with them to work.”

This has led to a motivated and constant workforce and the group at Youngsters HQ have remained the identical ever because the enterprise was based in 2014, creating consistency and stability for the enterprise and the play space’s clients. Abeer says she has seen at the very least 4 workers members change into pregnant and have their infants whereas working for her, and they're nonetheless working there now.

"I have experienced some business leaders, many of whom are women themselves, questioning whether a candidate who is recently married would be expecting in few months or a year,” she says. “I often challenge this stereotype. This is a natural course and we should be supportive of women who are pregnant. In fact I recall at one point recruiting an amazing candidate who was already expecting to a site project engineer position."

Ladies shouldn't should defend themselves as if it's a crime to be pregnant, says Wajeeha. "We should always as an alternative solely query the expertise coming in, take a look at the worth they'd convey to the group, the optimistic affect of a extra numerous workforce, and the nice that may come from feminine empowerment.”

Zabeen Mirza is the CEO and founding father of Jobs.com, a digital platform that helps moms to seek out versatile jobs. She says that employers have an enormous quantity to overlook out on if they don't give pregnant girls the alternatives they deserve. “Pregnant women and working mothers are an asset to the workplace, and by not allowing them the respect of taking maternity leave, as well as opportunities for promotion, development, and greater career success, they create a culture of high turnover, demotivation, and poor performance.”

“I was a freelance consultant when I was pregnant with my second child, and I was not given high profile projects because it was believed that it would be “too stressful”, though I had communicated and confirmed repeatedly I used to be greater than in a position.

“With my third child, I was given maternity leave, but then returned to work and told that I was too expensive for the firm and they had to let me go.”

She says these experiences taught her a priceless lesson. “It made me realise that the pregnant woman and working mother’s struggle is quite universal across cultures and countries, and that we must collectively do better in supporting women who have children. These women are qualified, skilled, experienced, and expert, and to discriminate against them, to treat them unfairly, and to value them less because of their family status is bad for your business, bad for your reputation. We can do better.”

Pregnant girls are simply as able to performing within the office as anybody else, says Jobs.mother’s Zabeen Mirza.

“A woman’s competence, skills, intelligence, or overall capabilities is in no way diminished by the fact she is pregnant, or has children,” says Zabeen. “To think otherwise does a grave injustice to the working mothers out there who have been statistically proven to outperform, outsell, out-produce, and outwork their peers.”

Dr Deemah Salem, an ob-gyn working at Genesis Clinic in Dubai agrees: “Medically speaking, if a woman is healthy with an uncomplicated normal pregnancy she is able to work all the way till the day she delivers. This is of course as long as her workplace is not a hazard in pregnancy (like environments with exposure to radiation or toxic fumes or involving physically challenging positions that may cause injury etc).”

Medically talking, if a lady is wholesome with an uncomplicated regular being pregnant she is ready to work all the best way until the day she delivers

- Dr Deemah Salem, OB/GYN at Genesis Clinic in Dubai

Whereas girls do must take a while off with the intention to have a child, it's non permanent and merely a matter of managing the workflow, says Kokila of Karm Authorized. “From a work perspective, this is managed by putting adequate systems, points of contact and work flows in place to ensure that everything continues to function smoothly. The equivalence of pregnancy with a physical disadvantage must go, especially in today’s world of advanced medical and technology facilities where we do not even need to be physically present in a particular place to deliver on our mandates. COVID-19 has taught us that growth can happen regardless of where the person is.”

However, though Kokila and others may have the ability to work to their earlier means whereas pregnant, the scenario is completely different for each pregnant lady, says Dr Salem. “Even normal pregnancy can bring along with it many challenges that can exhaust a patient at work such as morning sickness, back pain, lack of sleep...etc. These normal pregnancy symptoms can make it more difficult to get work done.”

For pregnant Dubai-based British expat Anna, who needs to maintain her true identification nameless, work has been an enormous problem since she turned pregnant. “I’m struggling with chronic fatigue and insomnia so I’m constantly tired. I feel like a walking zombie some days, However I will always make sure to get the job done as I’m very driven. My job is commission based, so I have to run my own hours and when you want to make a lot, you work a lot. I would say just because I’m carrying out the same duties as others in my office who aren’t pregnant, it doesn’t mean that I’m not struggling/tired/feel sick some days.”

Simply because I’m finishing up the identical duties as others in my workplace who aren’t pregnant, it doesn’t imply that I’m not struggling/drained/really feel sick some days

- Pregnant expat in Dubai, Anna

Anna believes that the workload must be modified for pregnant girls if potential. “Most definitely if the job is physically demanding but even so if it’s not because some days my brain just struggles to work and I’m not even moving, but just sat at my desk. Being pregnant is physically and mentally challenging, so regardless of the job, yes the workload should be reduced.”

Anna says that she is being handled otherwise at work as a result of she is pregnant, however for her it's in a optimistic approach as a result of she feels her employers are supportive of her being pregnant. “I’m lucky to have a team that is like a family and they care for me. For example, we had to do a task that required us to be on our feet for seven hours straight. The team were told that they must attend and work that day. However, I was told I didn’t need to come because I am pregnant. But I wanted to do it, and they were still supportive of that also, and said I should come but just leave if I want to.”

Expertise supervisor Wajeeha Shabbir says that being pregnant must be handled the identical approach as every other well being occasion in an individual’s life. “Let's put it this manner, what occurs once you break a leg, have an accident, or fall sick? Would you anticipate some flexibility? In fact you'll.

What occurs once you break a leg, have an accident, or fall sick? Would you anticipate some flexibility? In fact you'll.

- Wajeeha Shabbir, UAE-based expertise supervisor

“The question that we should ask as an organization is: how can we support expecting mums or even working mums? How does supporting them with certain flexibilities enable productivity, motivation and drive towards successful end results? Women who are expecting are compromising on their health. Give them the genuine flexibility, set an example and see the ROI. The irony is many organizations tend to forget we are talking about human beings not machines. It is not about reducing workload for pregnant women, it is about understanding, support and creating a workplace that women feel they are able to belong to.”

Kokila says nearly all of her shoppers and group members realise that pregnant girls are simply as able to doing their jobs as they'd be in the event that they weren't pregnant, and most male in addition to feminine shoppers proceed to request pregnant colleagues’ skillsets at seminars and occasions as regular. “It is all about balance and being prepared. Women are, especially in today’s technologically progressive world, capable of managing work and family together, including life milestones such as pregnancy. A person’s competence is all that matters in the workplace – not his/her age, orientation, gender, beliefs.”

For Wajeeha, it’s about investing in individuals: “It is about looking beyond the horizon and being able to trust that a female colleague who is pregnant will be able to deliver on her work. All it takes is one chance and some trust.”

And for any girls who're pregnant or considering of changing into pregnant and are afraid that it would derail thir profession, Zabeen Mirza has this recommendation: “Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself - speak up. Communicate clearly what you can do. Speak openly and honestly with your managers about your post-baby plans for growth, development, and promotion, and chart a path to realizing those goals together. This let’s them know that you are committed, and you are more than just a mother. You are a career woman, you are an expert, you are a valued member of the team.”