A MISCARRIAGE and stillbirth charity in Worcestershire argues New Zealand-style laws would prevent grieving parents from feeling obliged to head straight back to work.

New Zealand’s parliament voted unanimously to give mothers and their partners three days of bereavement leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth.

The ground-breaking legislation applies to parents, their partners and parents planning to have a child through adoption or surrogacy and has been hailed as a progressive step from voices across the world.

And Suzanne Mitchell, counsellor and centre manager at The Cedar Tree, Worcester, a charity helps with free and confidential advice and support on pregnancy loss, choices and infertility, believes such measures would remove work-related pressure on those mourning.

“I think it would be very helpful to have that legislated for, people would then feel free and justified in having time off,” she said.

“Some employers are very good and people get the time off they need but people worry when they are off work, they feel like they should get back.

“A lot of our work helps people to take steps to get ready to get back to work, through the counselling process we find we are helping them to be strong enough to face the world again.”

Tommy’s, a national miscarriage charity estimates one in four women have experienced miscarriage.

“The work we do is with a very specific kind of grief. A lot of people say very few people understand what they are going through,” added Suzanne.

“Couples or women are often grieving a baby that they have never met. The name given to it is disenfranchised grief, often a blocked grief because the relationship between the mother and baby is sometimes not recognised by society in the same way as it would be with a full-grown baby.

“It often leaves people feeling isolated, they need help with how to process the loss and that is where we step in.

“We allow them time out to be able to discuss how this experience has changed or hurt them and how they can make memories for a baby that they never met and move forward in a positive way.”