We’re encouraged to learn that, from April 2027, anyone who experiences pregnancy loss before 24 weeks will have a legal right to up to two weeks’ unpaid leave.
This new legislation includes miscarriage, termination for medical reasons, and unsuccessful embryo transfers during IVF treatment. It will apply to the person who experienced the loss, their partner, the other biological parent, or intended parents going through surrogacy.
Right now, there is no legal right to bereavement leave for pregnancy loss at all. With one in five women in the UK experiencing at least one miscarriage in their lifetime, the numbers of women impacted by this change will be huge.
The Law Says
From gov.org: “You can take 2 weeks’ leave from the first day of your employment for each child who has died or was stillborn if you’re eligible.
You can take:
- 2 weeks together
- 2 separate weeks of leave
- only one week of leave
A week is the same number of days that you normally work in a week.”
Why This Matters
Historically, and until this update to the legislation comes into force, whether you get any time off work after a pregnancy loss has depended on your employer’s goodwill.
Relying on individual goodwill has never provided the safety net needed by anyone dealing with the heartache of miscarriage, pregnancy loss or unsuccessful IVF. Instead of having to take sick leave, or return to work and carry on as normal, we will have the right to grieve this loss privately, even if it is only for a short time.
The new legislation builds on the existing right to Parental Bereavement Leave, which currently only covers stillbirth after 24 weeks or the death of a child under 18. Extending recognition to loss before 24 weeks, and to partners and intended parents too, is a meaningful shift in how pregnancy loss is viewed and treated in law.
We see this as a genuine step forward, one that recognises pregnancy loss as a bereavement and acknowledges the profound impact it can have.
Why Unpaid Isn’t Enough
Two weeks’ unpaid leave is a right that is needed. But, it is also, honestly, not enough for a lot of people.
For anyone already stretched by the cost of fertility treatment, taking unpaid leave on top isn’t always a viable choice. As long as this remains as unpaid leave, people are forced to make a trade-off between financial considerations and the time to grieve.
We hope this is just the beginning, a legal right to time off after pregnancy loss should have existed a long time ago, and now, finally, it will.
We’ll keep pushing, alongside everyone else in this fight, for that right to mean paid leave too. Nobody should have to choose between grieving and getting paid.
