Premature Infants
If a baby is born early, Maternity Leave starts the day after a child’s birth. This is the case if you are on annual leave prior to taking maternity leave. Any annual leave days not taken could potentially be carried to the end of your maternity leave the following year.
It is your responsibility to subsequently supply HR with either the child’s birth certificate or a document signed by a doctor or midwife (e.g., hospital discharge letter) that confirms the actual date of birth. Employers should then write to you confirming the new end date for your leave. For very premature births where the child is born 15 weeks or more before the due date, HR will need to calculate SMP in a separate way. Email HR Services in these special cases.
New Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 came into effect on 6 April 2025. This is new leave and pay entitlement for parents with a baby who has spent more than 7 days in neonatal care. For additional information, see the Acas Neonatal care leave and pay page.
Stillbirth and miscarriage
In these extremely sad and tragic circumstances, employees still qualify for full maternity leave and pay if a baby is stillborn after the start of the 24th week of pregnancy or if the baby dies after being born.
Any baby lost before 24 weeks is viewed as a miscarriage and sick leave can be taken. In either of these situations, it is critical that you are facilitated in taking as much time as you need to heal and recover, and you should feel empowered to seek support from your manager to do so. Losing a pregnancy at any stage is an extremely hard thing to go through and the demands of the workplace are very much the bottom of any priority list in such an event.
You can access internal support here or through the following organisations:
SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society)
SANDS Support for Black communities
Held in Our Hearts (baby loss counselling and peer support)
