Pregnant women fear maternity leave jeopardises their careers, study finds Poll by maternitycover.com found half feared ambitious colleagues Seven in ten worried job is more vulnerable if they take time off Three quarters said prospects of promotion affected by maternity leave More than two thirds of pregnant women believe they risk their jobs by taking maternity leave and fear competition from ambitious colleagues, according to a new study. Seven in ten women are worried about redundancy and feel their job is more vulnerable if they take statutory maternity leave after giving birth. The study by recruitment firm maternitycover.com reveals the extent of working women's concerns about the impact pregnancy has on their careers. Half of women said they would consider hiding their pregnancy from their boss if they were offered a job Half of the 1,300 women asked said they would consider hiding their pregnancy from their boss if they were offered a new job or a promotion. The law states that women can take 26 weeks of standard maternity leave and return to their jobs. But the study shows that in the current economic climate half of women are concerned they risk their long-term career prospects by taking time off to be with their baby. Three in four working women said their prospects of a promotion worsened when they had children and one in three believed they had been passed over in favour of other colleagues because they were of childbearing age. More than two thirds of women earned less after having a baby, the study found Paul Jenkins, chief executive of maternitycover.com, said: 'Women face countless unspoken taboos when it comes to having children and maintaining a career. Our survey, Boardrooms and Babies, makes this all too clear. We wanted to drill down into what women really experience, practically and financially, in the workplace when a baby appears on the scene. Only by lifting the lid in this way can we encourage conversation and improve communication between everyone involved. Working women were polled through parenting site NetMums. The study found more than two thirds of women earned less than before having a baby and just five per cent said their salary had risen. Women on maternity leave are paid a minimum by law of 90 per cent of their weekly earnings for the first six weeks followed by at least £136 a week for 33 weeks, which is lower than the minimum wage. More than half of those polled said they returned to work sooner than they wanted to because of money worries and four out of five said they got into debt during the work break.