If you’re interested in politics, you would know about Andy Burnham’s new two-week leave law for women and their partners who experience a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. From April 2027, anyone in this position will be entitled to time off of work, which until now they had no legal right to.
Whilst it may sound like a small change, it matters. Burnham pointed out that around one in five women will experience a miscarriage in their lifetime, which means most of us will know someone affected even if we never hear about it. The policy covers any pregnancy loss, including terminations and unsuccessful IVF transfers, and it
includes partners.
As university and college students, we may believe that this doesn’t affect us, but pregnancy loss doesn’t wait until someone is ‘ready’ or has a career and may even affect family members. Burnham’s estimate (1 in 5 women in the UK will experience a miscarriage in their lifetime) means that it can happen to anyone: students, friends and people we’d never expect, often without us knowing.
Why talk about it now?
Baby Loss Awareness Week begins on the 9th of October, through to the 15th. You don’t need a view on any party to think that this is worth the conversation; the bigger point is that something people have usually dealt with in silence is now being discussed out loud, and its impact on those individuals shouldn’t be disregarded.
The Group Chat Test:
If a friend or family member told you this had happened to them, would you know what to say? Most of us would freeze, so here’s a quick cheat sheet.
Do say: “I’m so sorry. I’m here, and you don’t have to reply.”
Offer something practical: A meal, a walk, company, help with washing.
Don’t say: “At least you can get pregnant” or “everything happens for a reason”.
Lastly, don’t disappear because you’re worried about saying the wrong things. A short message is better than silence.
Women are too often told to carry on with life as normal, whether its through painful periods, health worries or just a hard week. Many of us have sat through a lecture feeling terrible because it felt easier than explaining. Pregnancy loss is far more serious, so this isn’t a comparison, but it shows how women’s health gets treated as something to hide. Policies take time to change, but how we treat each other doesn’t have to (especially in times of need). You don’t need to know exactly what to say or hold a specific political opinion to be there for someone. Send the message and ask the questions and let that person know they don’t have to carry everything by themselves.