Pregnancy and the Work Environment

Abstract

ISSUE: The design community can respond to the need to accommodate pregnant women in the office environment. By extension, the report addresses the design of flexible work spaces responsive to people with special needs and the broader issue of accommodating women in a variety of workplaces traditionally designed for men. APPLICATION: To promote a more balanced approach on the part of the design profession, from a primary concern with the visual and aesthetic to an equal concern for ergonomic factors such as comfort, safety, and stress reduction in the work environment. GOAL: Data were compiled on women's needs, particularly their spatial, anatomical, and emotional needs during pregnancy. Designers of office environments and designers and manufacturers of office equipment need to become aware of the requirements of groups with special needs. DESCRIPTION: The critical elements in addressing the needs of pregnant women in the workplace are (1) recognition that over the course of pregnancy various physical and psychological changes take place; (2) reconsideration of the general office work area and individual work station in the light of these changes. CONCLUSION: By addressing the unmet needs of workers, both women and men, who are temporarily handicapped, the design profession will benefit in several ways. Such an approach will help meet workers’ needs and result in greater productivity, and the profession will be perceived as having a serious concern with the mechanics of the working environment as well as its appearance.