New Zealand introduces paid bereavement leave for miscarriages and stillbirths

Ginny Andersen, a backbencher from the governing Labour party, said her bill would make New Zealand “only the second country in the world, as far as I’m aware of, to provide leave for miscarriage and for stillbirth”.

The Holidays (Bereavement Leave for Miscarriage) Amendment Bill (No 2) makes clear that the unplanned end of a pregnancy by miscarriage or still-birth constitutes grounds for up to three days of bereavement leave for the mother and her partner or spouse.

Thousands of people backed a call for bereavement leave to be extended to women after a miscarriage or stillbirth after Dunedin writer Kathryn Van Beek highlighted the issue in a 2018 article reflecting on her own miscarriage.

Ms Andersen told MPs at third reading yesterday: “As a writer, Kathryn voiced the stories of so many women. Her grief was theirs, her words were theirs, and her fight has been for all of us. We would not have been here without you, Kathryn.”

She added: “Coverage of this bill when it was first done at first reading went global as other countries looked to us as a world leader, an example of legislation that explicitly recognised the grief that comes with miscarriage or stillbirth.

“I can only hope that while we may be one of the first, we will not be one of the last, and that other countries will also begin to legislate for a compassionate and fair leave system that recognises the pain and the grief that comes from miscarriage and stillbirth.”