Are Women Entitled to Miscarriage Leave At Work Place Under Maternity Benefit Act in India

While most of us have heard about maternity leave, not much has been heard about miscarriage leave. Though a common medical phenomenon, miscarriage is not talked about as comfortably as other life events.

This happens even though nearly 25 lakh babies are either stillborn or miscarried in the early weeks of pregnancy every year.

Pic courtesy: Reuters

Stigma Around Miscarriage

The one reason for this is the shame and stigma attached to the subject worldwide.

Hundreds of women do not receive appropriate care and respect in the events of miscarriage or stillbirth because of the stigma and shame attached to it.

And as diverse as the experience of losing a baby may be, women around the world are discouraged to talk about it in detail or be sad about the loss. On the contrary, at some places, they are made to feel guilty.

Also, on a general level, there is a sense of callousness towards miscarriage as it's perceived to be very common and unavoidable. More hurtful is the idea that it¡¯s considered not a big issue for the woman as no baby was born. But that assumption is untrue.

Reuters

Real And Painful Loss
It's painful, both physically and emotionally, and not to forget, financially.

Indeed, a baby is not born in such cases, the woman was on her way to have a baby. For her and her partner, the loss is real.

Though for others nothing changed on the surface level, the woman goes through a lot. Cramping, heavy bleeding, exhaustion, and perpetual weakness. It makes doing daily normal activities like going to the office, cooking, taking care of family difficult.

To this, add the financial burden that comes with doctor consultation, medication, etc. And unfortunately, when a miscarriage happens, the couple, especially the woman, is not only not allowed to mourn but is obliged to get back to her normal self the very next day. Which is cruel!

Reuters

It's for this reason that Indian lawmakers added a clause of miscarriage leave in the Maternity Benefit Act which was brought in 1961.

The Act aims to give the couple time to recover from the pain of that loss.

The Act states: ¡°In case of miscarriage, a woman shall, on the production of such proof as may be prescribed, be entitled to leave with wages at the rate of maternity benefit for a period of six weeks immediately following the day of her miscarriage.¡±

However, many working women might not be aware of this leave nor their companies HR would have cared to inform about it.

It is also due to the shame attached to the medical tragedy that not many women apply for the leave. And if a few of them try they are generally given cold shoulders or are threatened with dealy in professional advancement.

New Zealand Passes Miscarriage Law

But a silver lining has appeared on the horizon with the woman prime minister of New Zealand passing the Misscariage legislation allowing three days of paid leave to the couple.

The passing of miscarriage leave in New Zealand is crucial in many ways.

AP

First - it legally allows a woman and her partner to take time to recover from the pain of loss.

Second - it would open the door for more conversations on this topic which has been neglected so far.

Third - it would allow women to know that they are not alone in their traumatic experiences.

Long discouraged to talk openly, many women do not know the actual statistics. But one glance at the World Health Organisation report on the matter and the picture becomes clearer.

Indian Women At More Risk

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), 25 lakh babies are stillborn and over 10-15% of women suffer miscarriages every year. The condition of Indian women in this regard is grimmer with media reports suggesting that women in India are at a higher chance of miscarriages, especially during their first pregnancy.

Reuters

Though, India¡¯s Maternity Leave Act has the provision for miscarriage leave in its clauses that allows women working in a company with 10 or more people to claim paid miscarriage leave, a large population of women are left out of the ambit as they mostly work in the informal job market.

Maternity Law Across The World

However, comparing India¡¯s Maternity Law with other countries we find ourselves in better stead. For example, In Australia, a woman is entitled to take unpaid leave if she loses a baby after at least 2 weeks of pregnancy.

Britain and the US have even a less-generous maternity policy. In the UK, a woman can have paid leave if she has a miscarriage or stillborn after 24 weeks. And, in the US, there are no laws addressing miscarriage or stillborn births and professional setup.

And in some parts of the world like El Salvador, Mexico and Argentina, miscarriages or obstetric emergencies led to abortion can put women in prison.

Assessing miscarriage statics and mechanism available for women to deal with, it is clear that things have been difficult for women even in the 21st century.

Silver Lining

However, it's a welcoming move that some strong women are taking the lead to disconnect the shame attached to the topic.

After New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern passed the legislation the impact of the news reverberated across the globe and it helped the issue to be taken seriously around the world and not just in NZ.

Also, after Meghan Markle spoke about her miscarriage during her second pregnancy and the painful experience she had it opened the gateway for other women to talk about their loss more openly.

Writing a moving emotional piece for the New York Times on the matter of stigma around miscarriage and how despite millions of women experiencing it, it's not openly talked about.

She wrote, "Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few."

"In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100 women, 10 to 20 of them will have suffered from a miscarriage. Yet despite the staggering commonality of this pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning."

Long neglected, the issue of miscarriage needs to be discussed openly so that women can be given proper care and treatment and the couple time to overcome their loss.

Though India has been the first country to introduce the miscarriage leave clause in the Maternity Act, and NZ is the second such country to do so, there¡¯s a lot of catching up remains to be done by the rest of the world.