I have a question regarding maternity leave and eights

I see you have already mentioned that you wanted to know about maternity leave. However, I would be grateful if you could please provide some more details of your circumstances to enable me to understand your situation better. I also wanted to make you aware that this is not always an instant service, due to various legal engagements I could have and I may not be able to reply immediately. However, rest assured that I am dealing with your query and will get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks.

please provide links to the sources where they state that neonatal birth prior to 24 weeks provides you with maternity rights

Thank you. First of all, I am sorry to hear about the issues brought up by this. It must be a frustrating situation to be going through.

The answer lies in the link you provided above, specifically the definitions part of The Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999.

It defines ‘childbirth’ as “the birth of a living child or the birth of a child whether living or dead after 24 weeks of pregnancy” (I have underlined the relevant part above).

As you can see, as soon as a living child is born, then that satisfies the definition of childbirth and the 24 weeks is no longer relevant (which only applies if the child was stillborn).

If your child was born alive, then it has satisfied the definition of childbirth, which you can then go on to apply together with the rights further on in the Regulations.

For example, in Reg 6:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/3312/regulation/6/made

(2) Where the employee’s ordinary maternity leave period has not commenced by virtue of paragraph (1) when childbirth occurs, her ordinary maternity leave period commences with the day on which childbirth occurs.

We already know you have satisfied the definition of childbirth and therefore would be entitled to ordinary maternity leave to start on that date. Maternity pay also follows on from that.

Failure to adhere to the legal regulations as above could amount to pregnancy/maternity discrimination and could be unlawful, allowing you to claim for potential compensation.

Hopefully, I have answered your query in a way that is simple and easy to understand. If anything remains unclear, I will be more than happy to clarify it for you. In the meantime, thank you once again for using our services.

Hello again and thank you for your further queries, which I will be more than happy to answer. The statement clearly states a child was delivered, which later died, which is obvious that it was not stillborn.

It is most likely that the employer is confusing the scenario where a child is stillborn, which only gives you rights if it happens on 24 weeks or after, whereas a living child, which later dies, even if soon thereafter, is still childbirth no matter when it happens.