This was originally published in The Straits Times on August 11 2021. 

The Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) welcomes the changes to the Child Development Co-Savings Act, especially the recognition of stillbirths through the extension of birth-linked leave and benefits to parents of stillborn children.

This will grant parents who lose a child after the 22nd week of pregnancy more time to heal physically and emotionally.

A study published last year found that 16 per cent of women who had a miscarriage suffered long-term post-traumatic stress, and 17 per cent experienced long-term anxiety.

Such negative health effects are likely prolonged by going back to work too quickly after the miscarriage, even for fathers.

Furthermore, the distress faced by parents is often amplified by misconceptions around miscarriages, such as that miscarriage represents some sort of parenting failure, or that it is a personal matter with no bearing on one’s professional life.

Aware’s Workplace Harassment and Discrimination Advisory has seen clients who face this issue.

One client was given two weeks of hospitalisation leave after her miscarriage, but she cut it a week short after receiving pressure to return to work.

Despite her doing so, her manager gave her the cold shoulder when she returned.

This escalated to exclusion from work meetings after she took leave for her follow-up medical appointments.

To help parents come to terms with their loss, New Zealand recently introduced three days of paid miscarriage leave for those who miscarry before their 20th week of pregnancy.

Taiwan and South Korea also offer five days of leave if mothers miscarry early on in their pregnancy, while mothers in Indonesia are entitled to 11/2 months of miscarriage leave.

Given that one in six pregnancies ends in miscarriage, we hope that the Singapore Government can follow suit and offer support to these couples by introducing five days of paid miscarriage leave.

It will also ensure that they would not have to sacrifice their sick or annual leave, or feel compelled to resume work sooner during a difficult period.

Lee Yoke Mun, Projects Executive, AWARE