Oxfordshire charity backs calls for paid bereavement leave after a miscarriage
MPs have recommended couples should be entitled to paid bereavement leave.
An Oxfordshire charity is backing calls by MPs for couples who experience a miscarriage before 24 weeks to be entitled to paid bereavement leave.
A report submitted by the Women and Equalities Committee says "inappropriate and inadequate form of employer support" for those experiencing baby loss.
“Devastating and heartbreaking”
Currently only those who experience baby loss after 24 weeks are eligible for statutory parental bereavement leave and pay.
Footprints Baby Loss is an Oxfordshire-based charity helping families who experience the death of one or more of their twins or triplets before, during or after birth.
Sharon Darke, from Banbury and Co-founder of footprints baby loss, said: “It’s so important to take time to focus on grief as well as seeking help and support after losing a baby, and it can be so difficult to think about everything.
“Having paid bereavement leave can be one less thing to think about and an already really tricky time.”
Suzie Scofield, from Henley and also Co-founder of footprints, says “it’s hard to believe that in 2025 bereavement leave doesn’t exist for people who experience a miscarriage before 24 weeks.”
Ms Scofield said: “Any wanted pregnancy that lost can be devastating and heartbreaking for parents. It’s so important that people’s need to grieve and right to grieve is acknowledged by the workplace and their employers.”
She added: “We know how important it is to have time to physically recover from a miscarriage, as well as begin to process and grieve for that loss.”
‘The case is overwhelming’
The Women and Equalities Committee estimates more than one in five pregnancies end before 24 weeks, with between 10% and 20% of pregnancies ending in the first 12 weeks, known as early miscarriage.
They welcomed recent progress involving the introduction of baby loss certificates but said this "does not go far enough and it should be backed up by statutory support".
The committee said: "There is no statutory acknowledgement of the grief many women and their partners will feel after a pre-24-week pregnancy loss and the effects this may have on their working lives."
Committee chairwoman Sarah Owen has previously spoken of her own loss, saying she was "not prepared for the grief of miscarrying".
Labour MP Ms Owen said: "Like many women, I legally had to take sick leave. But I was grief-stricken, not sick, harbouring a deep sense of loss.”
She added: "The case for a minimum standard in law is overwhelming. A period of paid leave should be available to all women and partners who experience a pre-24-week pregnancy loss. It's time to include bereavement leave for workers who miscarry in new employment rights laws."
The committee has urged the Government to support the amendments or bring forward its own "to ensure that all those who experience the physical and emotional pain and grief of pregnancy and baby loss are able to access the support they need".
‘We will establish a new right to bereavement leave’
A Government spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: "Losing a child at any stage is incredibly difficult and we know many employers will show compassion and understanding in these circumstances.
"Our Employment Rights Bill will establish a new right to bereavement leave, make paternity and parental leave a day one right, and strengthen protections for pregnant women and new mothers returning to work."