MISCARRIAGE LEAVE: "It’s not well understood how to support women in Australia, yet"
By Indiana Hansen
PHOTO: Indiana Hansen || Cards at MAMA, Kensington
PHOTO: Indiana Hansen || Cards at MAMA, Kensington
Under the Fair Work Act, there is currently no paid leave available to women and their partners after a miscarriage in Australia.
Unpaid special maternity leave forces many couples to use up their sick leave or go straight back to work.
This means couples who experience a great loss, if not the greatest loss of their lives, can be forced to move on with no time to process the complexities of miscarriage emotionally, psychologically, and beyond.
There is also no paid leave available after experiencing a stillbirth in Australia.
Some progress was made last year, with parents of a stillborn baby becoming entitled to the same 12 months unpaid parental leave as parents of a healthy newborn, according to the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2020.
Fortunately, some Australian employers are accommodating to women and their partners in this space.
Having spent years trying for a fourth child, Dr Mohamed experienced a progressed pregnancy loss. While the external system didn’t acknowledge her grief alongside the social and emotional effects of losing a baby, the organisation she was working for at the time did.
PHOTO: Lowitja Institute || Dr Janine Mohamed
PHOTO: Lowitja Institute || Dr Janine Mohamed
Dr Janine Mohamed’s experience working for the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia in the early 2000s exemplifies how an organisation can support a female employee by listening and catering to her individual needs.
She said her workplace’s response was “quite beautiful”.
“They didn’t ask me to take sick leave, there was a pool of leave which everyone contributed to. So, a couple of people gave me a few days [of] leave, that they didn’t use. And that was allowed, within the organisation, that people granted me leave,” Dr Mohamed said.
“They knew it was a significant event in my life and they knew that I needed time, not just for myself but for my little girls who were expecting a brother or sister.”
She said the organisation's compassionate and progressive structure was culturally linked.
“We didn’t have to follow dominant culture legislation, ways of knowing, being and doing was significant [in Aboriginal culture]” Dr Mohamed said.
>SOUND ON<
>SOUND ON<
While Dr Mohamed took five weeks off work, she said there was no way of knowing in the beginning how much time she would need to process the loss.
Midwives and Mothers Australia (MAMA) Midwife Kelly Langford said it becomes a “very deeply psychological” battle for most women.
“It doesn’t matter how many weeks they are when they have the miscarriage, there’s a connection to a baby that is very deep for a lot of people and often we find women carry it through their entire lives."
“It’s something that if we talk about more and make more awareness around, women will feel more supported,” Langford said.
Just how common are they?
Approximately one in five confirmed pregnancies end in miscarriage before 20 weeks, according to the Royal Women’s Hospital. Although, the actual rate is likely higher because women can have a “very early miscarriage” without realising they were pregnant.
As of last year, Victorian parents can apply for an early pregnancy loss commemorative certificate to acknowledge the loss of their baby’s life, issued by Birth, Deaths and Marriages in collaboration with SANDS Victoria.
Previously, pregnancy loss before 20 weeks wasn't formally registered in the state.
Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria
Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria
“Australia is one of the safest places in the world for a baby to be born, yet death occurring within the perinatal period is not uncommon,” according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) overview of perinatal deaths.
Nearly two in five perinatal deaths (just over 38%) occurred before 22 completed weeks gestation.
Of the 2,789 perinatal deaths in 2018, 75% (2,115) were stillbirths. This includes: “a fetal death prior to birth of a baby of 20 or more completed weeks of gestation or of 400 grams or more birthweight".
In March, New Zealand became one of the first countries in the world to legislate three days of paid leave to employees after they experience a miscarriage.
This progressive legislation has re-established global standards, offering paid leave to both women and their partners regardless of whether they are still together.
India is another country ahead in this area, passing legislation in 2017 that offers six weeks of paid leave after a miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy.
PHOTO: Indiana Hansen || MAMA, Kensington
PHOTO: Indiana Hansen || MAMA, Kensington
To productively move forward in Australia...
MAMA Midwife Langford would like more time with her patients to give them the follow-up care they deserve.
“In terms of the psychological and emotional health to get back to normal, to get back to feeling well after a miscarriage, there’s not much around. It’s not well understood how to support women in Australia, yet,” Langford said.
>SOUND ON<
>SOUND ON<
"I would love, as a midwife, to be able to see women for a postnatal period as if they had a postnatal period after their baby that they had in their arms."
Dr Mohamed encourages us to challenge Western ideologies, what’s valued within an organisation and to listen to the voices of those impacted.
“Everyone needs to contribute to what that conversation needs to be, or else we are just speaking on behalf of a whole heap of people we shouldn't be,” she said.
“Choice is the best solution when we are talking about equity.”
C31 Newsline Video Story
The Minister for Women Marise Payne and Shadow Minister for Women Tanya Plibersek did not respond to request for comment before deadline.
For information and support visit SANDS Australia.
