UK's new bereavement law recognizes that trauma women feel after having miscarriage
Other countries should follow the UK's example.

Women and their partners need time to grieve after a miscarriage.
One of the greatest tragedies of having a miscarriage is that they are primarily a private affair, grieved mainly by the mother. Because it happens behind closed doors, there is often a lack of public acknowledgment or support for the family. Healthcare professionals typically tell the mother they will forget about the miscarriage after they have a successful pregnancy, but unfortunately, the pain often lingers, and not all go on to conceive.
"Because it is medically common, the impact of miscarriage is often underestimated," says Janet Jaffe, PhD, co-author of the 2010 book Reproductive Trauma: Psychotherapy with Infertility and Pregnancy Loss Clients, told the American Psychological Association. "But miscarriage is a traumatic loss, not only of the pregnancy, but of a woman's sense of self and her hopes and dreams of the future. She has lost her ‘reproductive story,' and it needs to be grieved."
What's the psychological impact of a miscarriage?
Studies show that having a miscarriage is an incredibly traumatic experience, with 29% of mothers in the UK meeting the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder after losing a pregnancy. A miscarriage is also known to lead to extreme feelings of guilt, anxiety, and depression. In most of the world, women who've miscarried are forced to carry on with life as if they had a routine health issue.
The grief can take years. via Canva/Photos
That’s about to change in the United Kingdom, where the country is strengthening its laws to help parents who have experienced a miscarriage. UK Parliament is set to pass a new employment rights bill that would add two weeks of bereavement leave to parents if they have suffered a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks’ gestation. Parents in the UK already have a right to bereavement leave for having lost a child or suffered a stillbirth after 24 weeks of gestation. The new law will cover parents from conception.
The new protections would affect the nearly 250,000 expectant mothers in the UK who suffer a miscarriage every year. It’s estimated that 10 to 20% of pregnancies in the UK end in miscarriages, although that number may be higher because many go unreported.
After the bill is passed into law, the UK will join New Zealand, India, Germany, and the Philippines in guaranteeing bereavement time off for those who have experienced a miscarriage.
A January report from the UK Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee found that the evidence for the bereavement policy was “overwhelming” and that it should benefit both parents.
“Miscarriages and pregnancy losses can be devastating for women and their families with both emotional and physical consequences. As the data shows, such experiences are sadly not uncommon, and yet current legislation has not caught up with this stark reality,” WEC’s Chair Labour MP Sarah Owen, said, according to the report. “The case for a minimum standard in law is overwhelming. A period of paid leave should be available to all women and partners who experience a pre-24-week pregnancy loss. It’s time to include bereavement leave for workers who miscarry in new employment rights laws.”
The employment rights bill is expected to pass its final hurdles in the House of Commons next week.
Women and their partners who experience a miscarriage before 24 weeks should be legally entitled to paid bereavement leave.
That's according to a report from the Commons Women and Equalities Committee. It found current options, such as sick leave, do not take into account the… pic.twitter.com/Hq7wFklMoO
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) January 15, 2025
Do Americans get bereavement leave for having a miscarriage?
Unfortunately, the United States has a long way to go when it comes to miscarriage bereavement. Only 5 of the 50 states, California, Maryland, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington, have employee bereavement laws, and all of them cover having a miscarriage. However, the amount of time varies between states. When it comes to private companies in the U.S that have bereavement benefits, around 24% of them cover miscarriage.
The UK bereavement bill is a step in the right direction for the people of the UK, and it sheds light on a hidden trauma that many couples go through but few discuss publicly. It also sets a precedent by showing the rest of the world that parents who've had miscarriages deserve real support.
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