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We’re delighted to announce our first charity partnership with Pregnant Then Screwed, a charity that works hard to ensure mothers are treated fairly in the workplace. After a negative experience returning to work after my first child, the cause is especially close to my heart and an organisation that I'm proud to support.

From Friday 22nd September 2024 we will donate 10% of proceeds every third Friday of the month to Pregnant Then Screwed. You will also have the opportunity to make a contribution to the charity every time you make a purchase from Beyond Nine if you wish.

I met up with founder, Joelie Brearley to ask her a few questions about the charity.

 

WHY DID YOU SET UP PREGNANT THEN SCREWED?

In 2013 I had my own experience of pregnancy discrimination. It rocked me to the core and changed the way I saw the world forever. I was sacked by voicemail the day after telling my manager I was pregnant with my first child. And then I received the horrifying news that I was having a high risk pregnancy and that the most important thing I needed to do for my unborn baby’s health was to avoid stress. So although I had a viable claim for discrimination, taking an employer to tribunal is pretty much one of the most stressful things you can do, and in my case, the three month time limit meant that I couldn’t wait until my baby arrived safely before I picked up my legal case. I was forced to choose between the health of my unborn child and the justice I knew I deserved. So I dropped the case. What other choice did I have?
 
That moment almost broke me. I had lost my job – and with it, what had felt like my chance at a career. I was suddenly completely dependent on my partner to keep a roof over our heads. In the blink of an eye, I had gone from having a successful career and being really excited about starting a family, to suddenly, nothing. As I lay on the sofa watching daytime TV and willing the little baby inside me to keep growing, I felt completely powerless. As a result of getting pregnant, I was entirely at the mercy of others. Before this moment I would never have called myself a feminist, because until that moment I had never experienced such overt inequality because of my biology. But from that moment on it was as though a blindfold had been removed and everything came into focus.
 
For two years my anger built. For two years I talked to other mothers about what had happened to me, and heard their stories of discrimination. I was beginning to learn that it was endemic. Then in 2015, I decided to build a website that could capture our experiences and show the world what was really happening behind the closed doors of the workplaces that were dismissing us. That website was called Pregnant Then Screwed.
 

Since then we’ve evolved into the preeminent voice of working mothers in the UK, supporting our community of about 300,000 with advice and information, and campaigning for realistic change that will improve things for mothers in the here and now.

  

  Joeli wears Lola in Light Wash

 

WHAT IS THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY?

The Motherhood Penalty is a well-recognised sociological term describing the systematic disadvantages and discrimination women face in their careers and wages after becoming mothers. This phenomenon is characterised by reduced opportunities, lower pay, and limited career advancement compared to women without children or men in similar positions. For example, mothers experience a 60% drop in earnings compared to
fathers in the decade following the birth of a first child, and women have lower pension balances at the end of their working lives.
The impact of the Motherhood Penalty is more acute for mothers that experience intersecting marginalisation, such as Global Majority mothers, mothers of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (also described as SEND), mothers who are disabled themselves, single and solo mothers, and mothers under the age of 23 years.

 

Naomi wears Tara in Black and Rust Stripe Bobbi 

 

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING MOTHERS AND WORKING MOTHERS TODAY?

Mothers are facing pressure from so many directions. We’ve got a childcare system that is failing, the least generous parental leave system in Europe, and we’re having to fight for the flexible working arrangements that are essential to the basic functioning of family life (anyone else still recovering from the mega-juggle of the summer holidays?). And don’t get me started on the struggles faced by parents of kids with SEND, or the mental load Global Majority mothers are carrying. Then all this in a culture where motherhood and care is not valued and respected in the way that it should be. All too often we hear from mothers who are feeling invisible and alone, dealing with financial and job insecurity, whilst trying to be the best they can be for their kids. The challenges facing mothers intersect, and we have to keep pushing together to get the government and workplaces to make meaningful changes that improve the lives of mothers and their families.

 

 

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO PARTNER WITH BEYOND NINE TO RAISE FUND FOR THE CHARITY, AND HOW DOES THE BRAND ALIGN WITH PREGNANT THEN SCREWED?

We’re delighted to be supported by Beyond Nine. Your brand is all about seeing women as whole people, whose bodies grow and change as they experience life. When we become mothers, we’re the people we always were, maybe just a bit more sleep deprived. We want to feel good in our skin and confident out in the world being ourselves, as mothers, lovers, sisters, workers, stretch marks and all.

 

 

HOW WILL THE FUNDS RAISED THROUGH THIS PARTNERSHIP DIRECTLY IMPACT PREGNANT WOMEN AND WORKING MOTHERS FACING DISCRIMINATION?

All the donations from your lovely customers and from Beyond Nine itself will be used to help support pregnant women and mothers who are being discriminated against in the workplace and help us campaign for change.

 WHAT MESSAGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONVEY TO THOSE CONSIDERING SUPPORTING THIS INITIATIVE, EITHER BY PURCHASING FROM BEYOND NINE OR DONATING DIRECTLY? 

A big fat THANK YOU! Your help will mean we can deliver advice and support completely free of charge to any women that need it, and it will help us shout even louder for the rights of mums. Together we’ll make sure the new government and businesses can’t ignore us and take action. 

 

 

WHAT IS YOU FAVOURITE PIECE FROM THE BEYOND NINE COLLECTIONS?

So tricky to choose! I did a quick poll of the Pregnant Then Screwed team, so we could give a collective decision, and we’re all over the Mabel Leopard Print Cupro Trousers and matching Esme top. As Bet Lynch taught us, leopard print is always a power move.

 

To find out more about Pregnant Then Screwed head over to their website or Instagram account. Charity No 1188643

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