Now then.
Picture the call. Not the hospital one. The other one. The one to the boss, or HR, or whoever answers the rota phone at half seven on a Tuesday, while your partner is still in the bathroom and you are trying to find the right words for something that does not come with a script.
For a long time, if the pregnancy ended before 24 weeks, that call sat in a grey area. Some workplaces were brilliant. Some were not. Plenty of partners got waved through on a bit of annual leave or a quiet sick note and hoped nobody asked too many questions. Plenty of others got told, gently or not, that there was not really a policy for this.
From April 2027 that changes across Great Britain. And for once, the law is written with partners in mind as well as the person who was pregnant.
What is actually changing
On 22 September 2026 the government confirmed a new day one statutory right to up to two weeks of unpaid bereavement leave after pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. The official announcement is on GOV.UK.
It is not a kindness from a good manager. It is a legal right. It starts from your first day in the job. No qualifying period.
The leave covers miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, terminations, and unsuccessful IVF embryo transfers. Intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement are included too.
It applies to the person who was pregnant, and also to their partner, the other biological parent, an intended co parent, and intended parents in surrogacy. That partner bit matters. Charities have been saying for years that blokes and co parents often get forgotten in the tea and sympathy, as if grief only sits on one side of the bed.
You can take the leave flexibly within 56 weeks of the loss, or of the date you found out. It does not have to be a solid fortnight. Single days are allowed. That is useful if the hard days land later, around a due date that never arrives, or a scan appointment that suddenly feels impossible.
No medical evidence is required. In the early weeks you notify your employer as soon as reasonably practicable. You do not need weeks of advance notice for something that does not give any. And you are protected from detriment or dismissal for taking the leave.
Sands, the baby loss charity, welcomed the recognition that pregnancy loss is a bereavement, while saying unpaid leave does not go far enough. Miscarriage UK, which ran the Leave for Every Loss campaign, made the same point: a baseline is welcome, paid leave is still the goal.
How this sits next to what already exists
This is separate from Parental Bereavement Leave, which already covers stillbirth after 24 weeks and the death of a child under 18. That existing right is paid. The new pregnancy loss leave under 24 weeks is unpaid.
That difference will sting for a lot of households. I will not dress it up. On a paramedic wage, two weeks with no pay is not a small ask. Plenty of couples will still lean on annual leave, occupational schemes, or a manager who chooses to pay anyway. The law sets a floor. Good employers already sit above it.
Northern Ireland moved earlier. Sands notes that from April 2026 Northern Ireland extended bereavement leave to miscarriage and pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. The Great Britain change lands in April 2027.
The same package also brings broader bereavement leave for the death of a spouse, partner, parent, adult child or sibling, including step, half, adoptive, kinship and foster relationships. That is a bigger story for another day. Today I am sticking with the pregnancy loss bit, because that is the one a lot of dads I know never realised applied to them at all.
The numbers people keep quoting
The government announcement cites an estimate that about one in five women in the UK experience a miscarriage in their lifetime. Charities and clinics often talk about roughly one in five pregnancies ending in miscarriage too. Either way, it is common, and it is still something people whisper about in car parks rather than say out loud at work.
I am not going to invent a personal story here. I have not lived that particular loss. What I have seen, on shifts and in ordinary conversations after the fact, is how often the partner becomes the organiser. The one who drives, who rings the ward, who answers the texts, who goes back in on Monday because somebody has to keep the money coming. Visibility goes to the person who was pregnant. The other parent gets a clap on the shoulder and a "look after her", as if that were the whole job.
This law at least names that other grief.
What dads and partners should actually do with this
A few practical things, because policy pages are written for lawyers and HR teams, not for someone sat in a car park with a cold brew.
Know the date. April 2027 for Great Britain. Until then, check what your workplace already offers. Some NHS trusts, councils and bigger firms already have pregnancy loss policies that go further than the new minimum, including paid leave. Ask HR now, on a quiet day, not in the middle of a crisis. Get it in writing if you can.
Partners have their own right. From April 2027 you do not need to borrow someone else's entitlement or call it a favour. It is yours. That includes partners who were not the pregnant person, other biological parents, and intended parents in surrogacy.
You can split the days. Up to two weeks, within 56 weeks, as single days if that helps. Grief is not tidy. Anniversaries and due dates do not care about your rota.
You should not have to hand over medical notes. The government has said no evidence will be required. That protects privacy at a point when people are already raw.
Tell them as soon as you reasonably can in the early weeks. Not a formal six weeks notice. As soon as practicable. After that, normal workplace notice rules will sit around the detailed guidance when it lands.
Check whether your employer already pays. The statutory right is unpaid. Plenty of employers already choose to pay. Some will update policies ahead of 2027. If yours is silent, that is a conversation for your union rep, your people team, or both.
Signpost properly if you need support. The NHS miscarriage page covers what to do medically and points to support for partners as well. Sands supports anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby. Miscarriage UK offers information and support around loss before 24 weeks. Use the real helplines on those sites. Do not trust a screenshot someone shared in a WhatsApp group with last year's hours.
The unpaid catch, said plainly
Campaigners wanted this leave paid. They did not get that, not yet. Miscarriage UK is still pushing through Leave for Every Loss. Sands has said unpaid leave is a first step and not enough, especially for people who cannot afford to take unpaid time.
I get why. Time off that costs you a fortnight of wages is a right that some families can use and others will quietly skip. The recognition still matters. So does the fact that partners are written into the law rather than left as an afterthought. But if your workplace can afford to go further and pay, ask them to. The statutory floor is not a ceiling.
A quiet word for the blokes reading this
If this lands on you one day, or already has, you are allowed to take up space. You are allowed to say you are not alright. You are allowed to use leave that has your name on it, not only to fetch cups of tea and drive people to appointments.
And if it has not happened to you, you might still be the mate, the shift partner, or the line manager who gets that half seven call. Knowing the April 2027 date, and knowing partners are included, is a small useful thing to have in your head before you need it.
Anyway. The law is coming. Check your policy. Look after each other. And if you need the charities, they are there when you are ready, not on anyone else's timetable.
Join the Dadsnet crew
Get weekly dad stuff in your inbox, with useful ideas, honest stories and a bit of dad chat from dads who get it.
Join the Dadsnet crew
Weekly dad stuff that actually helps. No spam, just the good bits.
