NHS workers who suffer a miscarriage before they are six months pregnant will be paid time off work as part of new guidelines.
Women employed in the health care system who have an abortion in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy receive 10 days of paid leave. Staff whose partner has an abortion get five days.
If there is a stillbirth after six months of pregnancy, staff will continue to be entitled to maternity leave under the health service’s new policy.
The new National Pregnancy and Baby Loss Policy Framework is designed to help staff process their grief in these heartbreaking circumstances.
Experts said the move sends a ‘powerful signal’ that people affected by baby loss ‘deserve understanding, compassion and the right to grieve’.
Women in healthcare who have abortions in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy are given 10 days of paid leave (stock image)
Staff and their partners will be entitled to additional leave to deal with their bereavement under NHS England’s new National Pregnancy and Baby Loss People Policy Framework, which was issued to hospitals on Wednesday.
MailOnline understands there is no “cut-off period” for being pregnant for a minimum period to be eligible for the benefit and the policy will operate on a “trust” basis.
It will also apply to couples who have a child via surrogacy.
The new framework also asks NHS trusts to give staff paid time off to attend appointments, including for medical examinations, scans and tests and mental health-related interventions.
Those returning to work after an abortion will be offered workplace support, which may include a referral to a specialist in their trust.
Dr. Navina Evans, Head of Workforce Training and Education, said: “Baby loss is an extremely traumatic experience that hundreds of NHS staff go through every year and it is right that they are treated with the utmost care and compassion when they going through such an upsetting experience.
‘We know the importance of getting support right in the first place for our staff, which is why, for the first time in the health sector, we are providing paid leave to allow parents to take time out to process this traumatic experience as well as paid time off to attend appointments .’
Dr. Evans added that she hopes the formal guidance will inspire other sectors to “adopt such supportive approaches to abortion in their own organisations”.
Kath Abrahams, chief executive of the charity Tommy’s, said: ‘Pregnancy loss can take a huge toll on women and people giving birth, both physically and mentally. Their partners can also be deeply affected.
“As the UK’s biggest employer, the NHS is sending a strong signal that staff going through this experience deserve understanding, compassion and the right to grieve – and that support is possible, whatever your workplace looks like.”
Health Secretary Maria Caulfield added: ‘Our brilliant NHS staff look after us when we need it most and this new guidance is a positive step towards ensuring they are supported through the tragedy of losing a baby.
‘This means that doctors, nurses and their partners will now be entitled to additional leave to help process their grief, which is vital for their long-term mental health and well-being.’
Ms Caulfield said the framework ‘delivers on key recommendations of the Pregnancy Loss Review’ and is part of the Government’s drive to improve women’s health through its Women’s Health Strategy.
The new policy was trialled at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust, where a staff survey found workers were twice as likely to stay with their employer as a result.
Raffaela Goodby, head of people at the trust, said: ‘I hope this national policy to support mothers and fathers with love and compassion at a terrible time in their employment is welcomed across the NHS and drives positive change across the UK .’
NHS Wales has said it will consider offering a similar scheme. The health services in Scotland or Northern Ireland have not yet made such a commitment.
There is no legal right to specific abortion leave in the UK, although some employers, and now the NHS in England, implement their own policies.
The NHS says around one in eight pregnancies end in miscarriage, which is medically defined as the loss of a pregnancy during the first 23 weeks.
Other estimates put this number higher, around one in six, as many women in the very early stages of pregnancy may not realize they are expecting when a miscarriage occurs.
Tommy estimates that there are 250,000 abortions every year in the UK.
Stillbirths, medically when a baby is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy, are far less common, occurring roughly in one in every 250 pregnancies.
Data shows that 2,866 stillbirths were recorded in the UK in 2021.