Ripon mum who lost her job after miscarriage backs calls for better support in the workplace
A Ripon mum who lost her job after suffering a miscarriage is backing calls for more support in the workplace after loss.
It's as the Bereavement Leave and Pay (Stillborn and Miscarried Babies) Bill is back in parliament today, put forward by Labour MP Sarah Owen.
The MP has previously spoken about her own trauma of miscarriage at work before she was elected as an MP.
Currently, if a loss happens in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, there is no legal right to maternity or parental bereavement leave. The Bill would give both parents who suffer miscarriage the automatic right to paid leave from work for at least a week, regardless of what time during the pregnancy the miscarriage happens.
Danielle Johnson from Ripon has lost two pregnancies before 24 weeks. One of her employers let her go because they deemed she was 'unreliable'.
She said:
"I was working at the time in a busy pub and I went for my scan and I was told there wasn't a heartbeat. I had to deal with everything after that and work wanted me back in a few days later. They wouldn't accept any time off.
"Eventually they let me go because they said I was unreliable because of the amount of appointments I needed after the miscarriage. I needed my blood levels checking, I needed to make sure pregnancy tests were coming back negative and that there was no other tissue left inside of me."
Danielle is calling for employers to better understand how to handle the situation if an employee suffers pregnancy loss.
She said her second miscarriage was more difficult.
"There was actually no baby there as my body had absorbed the baby but the sack was still there and growing. My body still thought I was pregnant. That took a good couple of weeks and I was back in work two days after giving birth", Danielle said. __
"It's absolutely awful. All I wanted to do was sit and cry. At this point I was working in a shop and one of my colleagues had just given birth as I was losing mine. She was coming in and showing off her baby so that was very hard for me.
"I just needed time to process it. I know not everyone understands if they haven't been through it but maybe if employers read into it and have a bit of awareness it would have been better for me. Instead of insisting I come back into work within 48 hours and we'll crack on like nothing has happened."
Since April 2020 all employed parents whose child dies (under the age of 18), or suffer a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy, have been entitled to a minimum of two weeks’ paid leave under the Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Act.
Speaking in Parliament, MP Sarah Owen, said:
"Grief hits everyone differently but one thing that is universal is that it takes time. That is why people are entitled to bereavement leave when losing a loved one. I was not prepared for the grief of miscarrying. I was even more shocked that I was not entitled to bereavement leave but legally had to take sick leave instead. But what I was feeling was not a sickness. It was physically painful, yes, but my overriding feeling was grief: a deep sense of loss of hopes, dreams and mourning a lost future with babies I never got to hold.
"I knew I was miscarrying during my first pregnancy. It happened at work. Rather than speaking out and saying what I knew was happening to my body at that time—the tell-tale tummy cramps and spotting—I stayed where I was, googled nearby ultrasound clinics under the table, and booked myself in for scan in my lunch break. I sat there devastated, knowing that there was nothing I could do to stop a miscarriage this early in pregnancy, at the same time just not wanting to believe that it was happening. I walked back to the office in pain and alone, going back to my desk and waiting until I could have the scan that confirmed my fears and my pain."