Employer emails grieving mum to cancel maternity leave after stillbirth
A distraught Sydney mum has spoken of her shock when she was told her maternity leave would no longer be valid after giving birth to a stillborn baby.
Lauren Hudson, who lost her daughter Fiyori after 35 weeks in 2017, received a note from her employer informing her she needed to return to work, she told Channel Nine’s A Current Affair.
"I was denied the 13 weeks maternity leave that I was expected to take, and also the twelve months unpaid leave," she said.
Unsure her work could demand her return, she went in search of answers with the Fair Work Ombudsman but was left devastated with her findings.
According to the Fair Work Act, employers can end an employee’s maternity leave by giving six weeks notice if the child is stillborn.
If the maternity leave hasn’t commenced, they can cancel the leave altogether, while additional unpaid leave would become defunct.
If the employee is unable to work, they must take sick leave or special maternity leave.
"I just felt silenced, and that really magnified my grief," Ms Hudson said, saying she hadn’t had time for the death to “truly sink in”.
She said she struggled to balance the news with arranging her daughter’s funeral as well as provide support for her two older children.
The Act meant she was no longer entitled to the 12 months unpaid leave she was also planning on taking.
She returned to work six weeks later still very much in “shock”.
The Stillbirth Foundation are calling for changes to be made to ensure grieving mothers are given enough time to process their loss.
Kate Lynch, Stillbirth Australia CEO, told the shows that the change would “make such an incredible difference to these families”.
Concern over stillbirth rate
Earlier this month, federal Labor voiced their concerns the stillbirth death rate is higher than the national road toll.
New figures show in the past two decades there has been little improvement in tackling the tragedy of stillborn deaths, which claim the lives of six babies each day.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government has agreed, or agreed in principle, to all the recommendations made by the Senate select committee on stillbirth research and eduction report.
He said the government is investing $52.4 million in perinatal services and support.
"This will help prevent, reduce and assist more than 2000 families affected by stillbirth each year," Mr Hunt said in a statement.
A research centre of the University of Queensland will receive $3 million in funding for a project that aims to reduce the rate of stillbirth after 28 weeks gestation by at least 20 per cent, saving the lives of 200 babies each year.
With AAP
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