'Support for miscarriages needs to be so much better': MPs back union's call for civil service pregnancy loss policy

“This is a basic policy of wellbeing and it’s hard to believe that these things haven’t already been provided," one MP says
Olivia Blake, who has spoken in parliament about her own miscarriage, gave her "full support" to the FDA's call for a pregnancy-loss policy. Photo: Dean Atkins / Alamy Stock Photo

Four MPs who have campaigned for better rights for people who experience pregnancy loss have backed a call from the FDA union for greater support for civil servants who suffer a miscarriage.

In a letter this week, the public-sector leaders’ union asked the Cabinet Office to work with it to come up with a policy giving staff affected by pregnancy loss paid time off and support.

Speaking to CSW, four MPs have said such a policy would provide vital support to help civil servants cope with a traumatic experience and set an example for other employers to do the same. Among them was Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake, who said it would "go a long way in addressing the culture around miscarriages in the civil service".

Current Civil Service HR policy does not guarantee any formal absence after a miscarriage that happens up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy – at which point, civil servants are entitled to two weeks of statutory parental bereavement leave.

Blake, who first spoke in the House of Commons about her own pregnancy loss last year, said the FDA’s call had her “full support”.

“I know from my own experience, and from so many people who have been in touch after I first shared my story, that support for miscarriages needs to be so much better"

“I know from my own personal experience, and from so many people who have been in touch after I first shared my story, that support for miscarriages needs to be so much better. It was for this reason that I secured a debate in parliament calling for a complete rethink of the narrative around miscarriages and a comprehensive overhaul of the care and advice offered to people who have miscarriages,” the Labour MP said

During the June debate, Blake called for improvements to medical care, including follow-up mental-health support and better recording of data. She said she wanted to "change women's experience of miscarriage", after recounting her own “difficult” experience of miscarrying alone last August because Covid-19 rules meant her partner could not come into the hospital with her.

Commenting on the union's letter, she said: “The FDA’s campaign – calling for paid time off for both parents following a miscarriage, for there to be a peer-support system, and for an improvement in the training line managers receive – would go a long way in addressing the culture around miscarriages in the civil service, and ensuring that civil servants receive the support they need."

Angela Crawley, MP for Lanark and Hamilton East, who has introduced a bill that would require employers to provide paid miscarriage leave, said that existing limitations on stuatutory support mean "thousands of parents around the UK are suffering without the proper support in place".

"The grief being experienced by parents is not an illness and parents should receive formal miscarriage leave rather than having to resort to sick pay or unpaid leave," she said.

The SNP MP said she is "delighted" that the FDA is calling for action “and would urge the Cabinet Office take action and to allow their employees time to grieve such a tragic loss”.

Patricia Gibson, SNP MP for North Ayrshire and Arran and vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Baby Loss, said the policy would be a “huge step forward in making it possible for people to talk about” miscarriages at work should they need to.

“This is a basic policy of wellbeing and it’s hard to believe that these things haven’t already been provided in statute,” she said.

"Miscarriage is something that in the past has been covered up and not spoken about and that has done a lot of damage"

“Miscarriage is something that in the past has been covered up and not spoken about and whispered about and that has done a lot of damage to people… we as a society are starting to talk about it and these [proposed] measures are very helpful in making people feel better talking about them,” she told CSW.

Current Civil Service HR policy states that managers will consider requests for time off following a miscarriage “sympathetically”, and that any sick leave taken for two weeks afterwards “will be recorded but will not count for attendance management purposes”.

However,  FDA equality officer Victoria Jones – who wrote the letter to the Cabinet Office – noted that extra layers of bureaucracy can deter people from asking for time off, and that explicit provisions for special paid leave “can really remove the barriers to people taking time away from work when they need it”.

Asked about what the Cabinet Office’s pregnancy loss policy should look like, Gibson said: “The important thing is the principle that there’s a recognition that something terrible has happened to an employee. When you establish that principle, then you can have the debate over how long and people can decide how much of that to take – the rest will somehow fall into place. The fact there’s no recognition at the moment is difficult to believe.”

“Not every employee who would be entitled to these rights would necessarily want to take the time off, because people want to to deal with loss in different ways – but it’s important the provision is there if people need it,” the MP added.

"It is not something any worker should be forced to take annual leave for or be forced to work through"

She suggested that introducing more robust policies for civil servants could encourage more businesses to follow suit – as well as bolstering the case for introducing statutory miscarriage leave.

“If government workers can access these provisions, I think the debate would have much more credibility... and it would send a signal to other workplaces that this is not an unusual thing,” she said.

Sarah Owen,  the Labour MP for Luton North, is also a vice-chair of the APPG on baby loss. She agreed that government should be "should be leading by example by extended bereavement leave rights to civil servants who experience miscarriage before 24 weeks". The legal requirements on employers "do not go far enough", she said.

“Miscarriage is an incredibly emotionally and often physically painful experience that sadly many women experience. The sense of loss and bereavement is very real," said Owen, who has also spoken in parliament about her own miscarriage.

"The time I was given off by a previous employer made a huge difference – it gave me time to grieve, attend hospital appointments and physically recover. It is not something any worker should be forced to take annual leave for or be forced to work through,” she said.

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