‘We urgently need better miscarriage leave – I know how much it helps'
A group of MPs are pushing for a law change that would enable those who’ve experienced a miscarriage at any stage of pregnancy to be able to take two weeks of bereavement leave from work. Currently, while some employers may offer the leave on a compassionate basis, women in the UK are not officially entitled to any statutory miscarriage or baby loss leave prior to 24 weeks' gestation. It’s something that sadly over a quarter of a million experience each year.
The changes are being pushed by the Women and Equalities Commission, a group of cross party MPs united in their efforts to improve life for women, who want the two-week leave period to be made available to women who experience a miscarriage, as well as their partners who support them. They hope to achieve this through an amendment to the Employment Rights Bill.
Under the current system, women who suffer a miscarriage are entitled to seven days of self-certified sick leave, like anyone else is, and their employer can (and usually does) require a doctor’s note as evidence in order to sign it off.
If this legislation were to be created, as MPs are pushing for it to be, in a similar fashion to that of the rule which states those who lose a pregnancy after 24 weeks, these women and their partners would also be paid during their time out (via the government’s maternity pay scheme at the sum of £184.04, or 90% of their weekly earnings, whichever is lowest).
Nothing is certain at this stage. Miscarriage leave was seriously discussed - but then dismissed by Boris Johnson back in 2021. Online critics of this scheme (yes, there are critics who object to grieving women being given time off to heal) claim that the current system works – but I know first-hand that we can and must do much better by those who’ve experienced the devastation of a miscarriage.
The idea of having to follow the discovery that you’ve lost your baby with attempting to get a GP appointment, then asking said GP to be signed off under the guise of ‘illness’ and then paying £35 for a doctor’s letter is abhorrent – and yet, that’s currently what many women are having to do in order to be allowed the time to grieve. How is that possibly allowed to be classed as a system that works?
Miscarriage is mired in uncertainty. From the moment I first saw blood, ten weeks into my pregnancy, I couldn’t stop asking questions. And then, days later when I was told that I had suffered a missed miscarriage, the first question I asked the doctor was: ‘Why? What did I do wrong?’ The last thing any woman needs at that point is to spend time in a medical appointment chasing paperwork.
The proposed legislative changes also mean that partners would be able to take miscarriage leave, something that is so often overlooked. The physical experience of pregnancy loss of course rests with the pregnant person, but emotional turmoil can absolutely impact the partner. Under the current system, if your partner wanted leave to process their grief at the loss of what would also have been their child, they also have to individually access a GP appointment and make their own case for being signed off – which may or may not be successful.
On the day that I found out about my miscarriage my then-husband and I went to Waitrose and silently walked around while I filled the trolley with foods that weren’t pregnancy safe. We spent every moment together for several days, then took a trip to the seaside where we had a sort of tiny, unofficial funeral for the baby we would never meet. We were able to do that because we had supportive, understanding employers who gave us that time. That time together was invaluable. Other people are not so lucky.
A 2020 study from the Miscarriage Association found that 49% of women went back to work before they felt ready. They also found that 40% of women who experienced miscarriage felt that the standard of their work was negatively impacted upon return to work, and 11% of women said that they even ended up leaving their role as a result.
There is no way to alleviate the misery of having a miscarriage. It’s a universally horrible experience. But we can take steps to make the aftermath a less stressful period, allowing women the time and space that they need to process their loss, which is exactly what this much needed legislation seeks to do.
If you want to encourage the WEC amendments, you can contact your MP and ask them to lend their support to the legislation. If you have experienced pregnancy loss you can contact Tommy’s, or the Miscarriage Association.
You Might Also Like
