There is currently no guaranteed entitlement to paid leave after a miscarriage in the UK, though many companies do operate such policies.
The NHS is now rolling out a national scheme that will extend paid leave for its workers who suffer the loss of a child early in pregnancy. Parents who have miscarriages after 24 weeks continue to receive paid maternity leave.
The scheme was trailed at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Hospital Trust, after which staff were twice as likely to remain working there as a result.
“Our brilliant NHS workers look after us when we need it most and this new guidance is a positive step towards ensuring they are supported through the tragedy of losing a baby”, said Women’s Health Strategy Minister Maria Caulfield.
Parents in England may also apply for a baby loss certificate to recognise miscarriages under 24 weeks, as reported by SPUC last month.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “While recognising pregnancy loss it is a step in the right direction, society must take the extra step in understanding that such grief exists exactly because unborn children are people and not merely a clump of cells.
“There is an inherent contradiction in a system that grants the premise that the deaths of unborn children under 24 weeks gestation matter enough to issue bereavement leave and certificates to parents while also aborting hundreds of thousands of similarly aged babies every year.
“The death of an unborn child is a tragedy because a life has been lost, irrespective of whether that baby was wanted or not. A child’s worth is ultimately measured by their innate value that so many parents recognise intuitively.”
