Workplace policy and culture significantly influence the decisions made by women facing a crisis pregnancy, a conference in Dublin will be told today.
The director of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, Caroline Spillane, is expected to tell the conference that companies need to think more about workplace policy and culture in this area.
She is expected to say that recent research commissioned by the agency and the Centre for Gender and Women's Studies at Trinity College Dublin found that there were strong links between parenting, pregnancy decision-making and the workplace.
Ms Spillane is expected to say that workers need to be supported to allow them to combine employment with family and personal commitments and that this underpins work-life balance.
It is understood that Ms Spillane will say that this is an issue that affected workers across the full range of socio-economic groups and business sectors.
Ms Spillane is also expected to say that crisis pregnancy is a common experience in Ireland.
It is understood that she will say that one in five women between the ages of 25 and 34 have experienced a crisis pregnancy.
The conference on The Workplace of the Future: reconciling Pregnancy, Parenting and Employment,will also be addressed by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Martin Cullen.