Advertisement

Updated March 25th, 2021 at 19:35 IST

New Zealand passes 'Bereavement Bill' for parents to take time off after miscarriage

New Zealand lawmakers on March 24 have unanimously approved the bill giving parents three days of bereavement leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
New Zealand
| Image:self
Advertisement

New Zealand lawmakers on March 24 have unanimously approved the bill giving parents three days of bereavement leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth. Labour MP Ginny Andersen, who presented the Bereavement Leave for Miscarriage Bill, said that it would allow parents to come to terms with their loss without facing any pressure to use up their sick leave entitlements. The legislation approved by the New Zealand parliament applies to parents, their partners, and parents planning to have a child through adoption or surrogacy but not abortion.

“The grief that comes with miscarriage is not a sickness; it is a loss,” Andersen said. “That loss takes time – time to recover physically and time to recover mentally; time to recover with a partner”.

Anderson paid tribute to Dunedin writer

As per a Guardian report, in her speech, Anderson paid tribute to Dunedin writer Kathryn Van Beek, who had reached out to her local MP after experiencing a miscarriage rooting for a change. Reportedly, at the time, Beek had written, “A miscarriage is a strange, secret birth that is also a death.” Another Green MP Jan Logie welcomed the Bereavement Bill saying that it would make significant progress in dismissing the taboo and silence that several women continue to endure after losing a pregnancy. 

As per the report, Logie said, “That silence that has caused so much harm has, in part, started to be broken by this debate and by parliament’s attention” before noting that in New Zealand, one in four women have had a miscarriage. Further, she noted that nearly 20,000 women lose a pregnancy through miscarriage or stillbirth every year. The bill does not apply to women who end a pregnancy through abortion. 

As per the report, India is the only other country where the law stipulates women are entitled to six weeks’ leave if they miscarry a baby. Several other nations have also introduced similar provisions for grieving parents. In the Canadian province of Ontario, if a woman loses a baby 17 weeks or less before her due date, she is entitled to 17 weeks of unpaid pregnancy leave. Meanwhile, in the UK, a miscarriage before the end of the 24th week of pregnancy does not qualify for bereavement leave.

Image credits: AP

Advertisement

Published March 25th, 2021 at 19:35 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo