Women who become pregnant harbour the fear that they may lose their jobs or have their career prospects dimmed.

Nearly seven of every 10 people polled recently felt that pregnant workers were disadvantaged this way.

In the AsiaOne poll of 1,259 people last week, some 30 per cent, or 374 individuals indicated that a pregnant woman faces the risk of losing her job while another 37 per cent, or 466 people, agreed that pregnancy would "affect her promotion prospects."

Only one-third, or 419 people, felt that there was no cause for worry.

The survey followed media reports about Medicorp actress Zoe Tay, who said in this month's issue of Chinese women's magazine Citta Bella that her contract had been "suspended", and that she had stopped drawing income because of her pregnancy.

The 39-year old actress, who is married to pilot Philip Chionh, has a two-year-old son Brayden and is currently seven months pregnant.

The controversial topic has set online chatrooms and forums in Singapore abuzz. In AsiaOne, the forum thread "Medicorp drops pregnant Zoe Tay" has so far received 46 postings and a massive 10,682 public views to date.

Mediacorp has since clarified their contractual policies, saying in a statement that "there is no termination or suspension of contracts for artistes who are pregnant".

It added that "the 12-week full pay (similar to permanent staff on maternity leave) would usually still be paid to pregnant artistes with no obligation or extra commitment" and it "has always adopted a pro-family approach".

Medicorp, however, said it will not disclose the specifics of individual broadcaster-artiste contracts for reasons of confidentiality.

Zoe Tay's revelation of her contractual issues with her employer caught the public eye because of her 'A-star' status as a local celebrity, but she is not the only one unhappy about what she sees as the job consequences of being pregnant.

In the first five months of this year, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) received 36 complaints of pregnancy-related discrimination, compared to the 15 to 28 cases reported annually from 2001 to last year.

It is of no surprise that 67 per cent of AsiaOne readers feel that a woman's career is in jeopardy when she becomes pregnant.

"With the government's efforts to promote work-life harmony and family life, I am appalled and disappointed that women still contend with issues such as getting sacked for being pregnant," said Mrs Valerie Chan in an AsiaOne forum posting.

Mrs Chan, 28, was asked to leave her job as an Operations Executive at a global conference company earlier this year because the company felt that she could not meet the newly-imposed travelling requirements in her downsized department.

This despite her candid opinions she gave to her then-prospective employer during the interview about starting a family which they assured her was fine as they were "pro-family".

However, even if a company chooses to retain a pregnant employee, some 37 per cent feel her career prospects will be affected adversely.

A forum member, Super Gal, said of her experience: "When I was expecting my third child, they didn't sack me but my expatriate bosses gave me so much mental and physical stress such that I had a nervous breakdown and my gynecologist had to induce my labour.

"When I returned after my maternity break, he had the cheek to ask me 'when am I stopping all my nonsense, in other words, getting pregnant'."

A few forum members said that some companies, especially the SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) have no choice but to let their pregnant employees go.

Mr Terry Chang wrote: "We employ somebody to work for the company and pay him or her accordingly for what he or she is supposed to contribute to the company. If the employee is new and without past contribution to the company, I don't see why the company is obliged to continue to employ her if she is not suitable for the job."

Zoom58sg said that "most SMEs do not have room for staff to be on maternity", and it would be too much of a financial strain to bear.

Is having a baby a joyous moment parents? To many people, this state of prospective motherhood can turn out to be a tangled web of contractual disputes, mistreatment from the employer, and loss of income and job prospects.

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