Methinks that there is a legal loophole which may be considered discriminatory, hence I've written to my MP asking him to take this up. here goes my letter. I'd encourage women in a similar situation to do likewise and would appreciate comments.

"Today I'm writing to you because I've come across an issue which seems to me to be discriminatory and I wonder whether you would be able to take this up in Parliament.

The qualifying conditions for Statutory Maternity Pay are such that it will only be paid if a woman did not start a new job while she is pregnant, in which case she may be eligible for Maternity Allowance. My own case falls into this category: I got a job offer which I accepted and found out I was pregnant at the point after the offer was made. I did not have a break in employment between the previous and the new post, and have been employed without break for the last 10 years, 9 of which in full time employment, but all 10 in taxable employment.

However, as my new employer has a very good maternity policy, I do receive Contractual Maternity Pay - even if for a slightly shorter duration than if I had been employed for longer. Therefore, personally I don't experience a financial loss. The loss is on my employer's side - normally, had I been employed before my pregnancy started, the Dept of Work and Pensions would have covered the SMP percentage of my salary for the first 6 weeks of my maternity leave (i.e. 90% of my salary). As I was pregnant when I started, this is not the case and my employer has a financial loss of 90 % of my salary for 6 weeks. To make things worse, my employer is a charity and I feel rather guilty about his situation.

Moreover, for a woman in this situation who is employed by an employer who only pays SMP (as is the case for a friend of mine, who didn't change jobs but her contract was renewed due to a synergy agreement between an old and new employer), instead of receiving 90% of her salary for 6 weeks, she will only receive MA at £108 a week, regardless of the fact that she's still doing the same job as she did the previous 3 years and has not in fact changed posts.

I feel this is discriminatory because it may discourage women from making career choices or penalize pregnant women who may not even know they are pregnant and only find it out after they've changed jobs. It also penalizes employers who have laudable maternity policies and pay contractual maternity pay. Furthermore, in the case of my friend, the employer changed without her contribution or choice and she now only receives MA, thus leaving her on much worse financial terms.

I believe that if SMP was based on the continuous employment of a woman prior to and during her pregnancy, rather than length of service with her current employer, it would be much fairer. As it stands, it seems to me to be discriminating against pregnant women and, in some cases, their employers.

Yours sincerely,"