MP opens up on wife's miscarriage agony as bereavement rules to change

A Doncaster MP has candidly spoken of the agony of baby loss as rules around time off work for bereavement are set to change.

From April next year, employees in Great Britain who lose a spouse, partner, parent, adult child or sibling will be entitled to up to two weeks' unpaid leave.

Lee Pitcher, Labour MP for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, has welcomed the announcement which also applies to employees who lose relatives, including step, half, adoptive, kinship care and foster relationships.

Women and their partners who experience a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, including miscarriage, will also be entitled to up to two weeks of leave.

Currently there is no legal right to bereavement leave in these circumstances, despite it being estimated that one in five women in the UK will experience a miscarriage.

Mr Pitcher, who has spoken publicly about his and his wife Julie’s own experience of miscarriage, said: “It’s hard to describe the feeling of elation you get when you find out you and your partner are having a baby.

“What isn’t difficult to describe is the utter heartache and devastation when you miscarry.”

“Mine and my wife’s life felt like it was turned upside down when this happened to us many years ago. Everything just seemed to stop.”

“I cam’t even begin to imagine how my wife, Julie, felt.

“And then to have to just go back to work and carry on, while you are suffering so much internal anguish, is unbelievably difficult.”

“No one should have to face that. When you’re grieving, you deserve the time and space to do so.”

“I fully welcome this change, it's the right thing to do, and I am so pleased to see this government be the first to act.”

Under the new rules, leave can be taken flexibly within 56 weeks of the loss. No one will be required to provide evidence of their loss, protecting employees’ privacy and dignity.

Employees taking bereavement leave will also be protected from detriment or dismissal.

The government is also undertaking a wider review of the parental leave system, including on Hugh’s Law and the rights of parents with terminally ill children, a cause Mr Pitcher has previously championed.

The changes build on the existing right to Parental Bereavement Leave for parents who experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks or the death of a child under 18.