Pregnancy at sea: A taboo topic for seafarers?

Pregnancy at sea: A taboo topic for seafarers?
Yashika F. Torib Dec 03, 2025 https://www.manilatimes.net/2025/12/03/business/maritime/pregnancy-at-se...

PREGNANCY at sea is an overlooked reality that most in the male-dominated seafaring sector has failed to discuss and address.

This was the observation made by the Global Maritime Forum (GMF), an international organization that strives to increase sustainable long-term economic development and human well-being at sea.

A study conducted by GMF showed that there is an absence in standard practice in handling pregnancy onboard ships. It added that the lack of clear policies results in improvised procedures and delayed medical care.

“Because women remain underrepresented at sea, opportunities to learn systematically from their experiences have been limited. Silence or improvised responses often push them out of the industry,” GMF stated in its study.

“There is no structured approach on how to handle pregnancy at sea, it’s not talked about and normalized. There is no systematic process for the company to learn about,” says Hana Nguyenová, author of the study titled “Pregnancy at Sea: From Hidden Risk to Retention Edge.”

“Nobody is talking about being pregnant onboard. We have lots of toolbox talks about safety, lots of drills, emergency audits, but pregnancy is a taboo topic,” one of the female seafarer respondents commented.

Other respondents stated that there was nothing about pregnancy in their Safety Management System (SMS). “There are no regulations or even simply to whom we should inform,” says another.

According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), women seafarers comprise a meager two percent of the entire global seafaring sector.

Traditional mindsets emphasized by masculine norms onboard ships are only some of the hurdles women go through.

For a culturally patriarchal country such as the Philippines, women are dissuaded by notions that seafaring is a job fit only for men, especially with social expectations that designate women as keepers of the family.

“One of our Filipino respondents’ husband is also a seafarer. When she got pregnant, it was out of the question that she had to stay back home,” Nguyenová said.

The study surveyed 15 women seafarers from 12 different vessels. The surveyed crew are a mix of eight nationalities to include Turkish, Filipino, American, Indian, Latvian, British, German, and South African.

“Women seafarers who get pregnant are expected to sacrifice their careers — it’s just the stigma of being a woman, building a home and raising a family. It’s not always the case. Some of them do not want to be seen like that, they opt to continue with their careers.

“Many of these women seafarers fear that an appeal for work adjustments or modification will only prove to people that this is not the right job for them. There is a fear among them that they cannot show vulnerability at all,” Nguyenová said.

“The standard leave is three months; requests for longer maternity leave are usually declined. If we do not want to leave our babies that long, most of us just stop working,” one respondent said.