**Trigger warning: this article contains references to miscarriage and baby loss. **
According to the NHS, 1 in 8 pregnancies in the UK end in miscarriage and, according to Tommy’s, half of adults in the UK said that they, or someone they know, had experienced pregnancy or baby loss. Pregnancy loss impacts everyone differently, but for many, such a traumatic event comes with a plethora of physical and mental side effects, ones which are often difficult to grapple with. Despite this complicated toll though, until now women who lost pregnancies within the first 24 weeks were not entitled to any form of paid bereavement leave.
Finally though, things are about to change, as after repeated calls for further support for those who experience miscarriage, parents who face such a loss will now be entitled to bereavement leave under new workers’ rights reforms.
The change means that mothers and partners in England, Wales and Scotland will be granted two weeks of bereavement leave if they experience miscarriage or stillbirth before 24 weeks’ gestation, according to reports from The Guardian.
The right to bereavement leave already exists for those who suffer baby loss after 24 weeks gestation, however, previously women who lost a baby before 24 weeks were not entitled to any statutory leave unless a doctor agreed to sign them off from work. And while certain employers already offer a form of bereavement leave on a discretionary basis, many women have been faced with the unthinkable reality of having to return to their place of work almost immediately after losing their baby.
Calls for a change to current employment rights around miscarriage have been spearheaded by groups such as The Women and Equalities Commission. Labour MP Sarah Owen, who chairs The Women and Equalities Commission, had previously said in a report in January that the case for extending bereavement leave to pregnancy loss under 24 weeks gestation was “overwhelming”, and recommended that women (and their partners) who lose a pregnancy should be paid by the government at the same rate as maternity pay (£184.03 per week or 90% of weekly pay – whichever is lower) while on statutory leave.
The change, which will mean anyone who experiences the loss of a child in utero at any stage of their pregnancy, is part of a series of wide-ranging Labour updates to the Employment Rights Bill, which will implement a series of flagship workers’ rights reforms in England, Wales and Scotland. The reforms, including the changes to miscarriage bereavement leave, are set to go through their final discussions in the Commons next week.
**If you have been impacted by any of the issues discussed above, visit Tommy’s, the largest UK pregnancy and baby loss charity, for support and resources.**