Baroness Benjamin
Main Page: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Still-Birth (Definition) Bill [HL]
Baroness Benjamin Excerpts(1 day, 21 hours ago)
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Baroness Benjamin (LD)
My Lords, I am overjoyed to introduce this important Bill to your Lordships’ House. I thank the Government Chief Whip, the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, for ensuring that there was time for the debate today; I am most grateful to him. I also thank the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, for her support and commitment to improving care for those who have suffered baby loss, and all noble Lords who have offered their support too. I know that the thousands of people who are hoping for change in the definition of stillbirth are most grateful. This debate means more than words can convey.
Let me begin by asking a deeply personal and profoundly painful question: how many among us have experienced the heartbreak of losing a baby during pregnancy? I have. My husband and I have been blessed with two wonderful children, but we also endured multiple pregnancy losses. Each one left a permanent mark. For nearly four decades we grieved privately, our pain unspoken and our babies unacknowledged. This was the same for millions of families, but it changed last year with the introduction of the certificate of loss, a formal and enduring recognition of the lives we lost. We felt so uplifted when we applied for our certificate of loss, which is proudly displayed on the wall alongside our family photos. To date, tens of thousands of certificates of loss have been issued, and I thank both the current Government and previous Governments for their leadership in making this become a reality, as well as the Saying Goodbye charity for its extraordinary work campaigning tirelessly for a decade for the creation of a certificate of loss for those who have suffered baby loss. I worked with the charity to introduce a Private Member’s Bill to see this brought in, and commend the pregnancy loss review led by Zoe Clark-Coates MBE, founder of Saying Goodbye, and Samantha Collinge. Their recommendations made these certificates become a reality.
Today I bring before noble Lords the next necessary step: to amend the legal definition of stillbirth in UK law. Currently, a stillbirth is defined as the loss of a baby occurring from the 24th week of gestation until birth. This definition, established by the Still-Birth (Definition) Act 1992, was a step forward, lowering the threshold from 28 weeks, in line with updated viability guidance, and granting grieving parents access to bereavement leave, maternity and paternity benefits and legal recognition of their loss. However, more than three decades on, this definition no longer reflects the medical realities, nor the profound emotional impact of baby loss.
Each year, up to 10,000 families in the UK lose their babies between 20 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. These parents are excluded from maternity protections, bereavement leave and statutory recognition of their loss as a stillbirth. Although the new certificates of loss offer deeply symbolic recognition, these families still face the trauma of returning to work within days —sometimes even hours—of delivering their deceased child. They lose pregnancy-related medical exemptions immediately. Many are left without paid leave or time to heal, emotionally or physically.
I want to tell your Lordships about the experience of a lady I call “Carla” to protect her privacy. She says:
“I lost my son at 23 weeks pregnant, a ‘late miscarriage’. When I found out that my son would likely pass away, all I wanted was to make it to 24 weeks. To have him acknowledged legally as a person, to feel like my miscarriage and the trauma associated with my 48-hour labour acknowledged for how horrifying it actually was. To have a bit of extra space to breathe by having maternity pay and benefits rather than returning to work. However, I missed it by 6 days. I was fortunate that my employer was understanding and I had 2 months off at full pay. However, I still had to return well before I was ready, still feeling very traumatised and recovering physically as I went back to a busy job. I had to return to work the week after my son’s funeral as it took that long to have his body released after the post mortem examination. My de-brief meeting was quick by NHS standards at 3 months, however, I was back to work full time and I had to go into work before and after the meeting, where they told me why my son died”.
To compound this tragic experience, Carla would not have been eligible to receive support from the children’s funeral fund, which was set up to cover burial costs for children under the age of 18 or stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy. A change in the definition would have had an impact: it would benefit bereaved parents and give some solace to those enduring the trauma of stillbirth after 24 weeks. As the ruling currently stands, we are asking grieving parents to carry on as though nothing happened. This is not compassion; it is a legislative blind spot, which we now have the opportunity, and indeed the obligation, to address.
I warmly welcome the Government’s recent commitment to explore the introduction of paid bereavement leave for parents who have experienced the devastating loss of a baby before 24 weeks’ gestation. This measure, which was among the 73 recommendations of the pregnancy loss review and highlighted in the Women and Equalities Committee report, would represent a meaningful and long-overdue step forward in recognising and supporting families through pre-24-week pregnancy loss.
It was also good to hear, during the Employment Rights Bill’s Report stage in the other place, the Minister for Employment Rights state that the Government
“fully accept the principle of bereavement leave for”
those who have experienced
“pregnancy loss … We look forward to further discussions … as the Bill moves on”—[Official Report, Commons, 11/3/25; col. 861.]
to other stages. This is most reassuring. But while the introduction of some paid leave would go a long way to help the hundreds of thousands of people who experience baby loss, my Bill seeks to go much further and extend all rights and benefits that currently exist to losses after 24 weeks’ gestation to include losses from 20 to 24 weeks.
Internationally, the UK is falling behind most developed nations. The World Health Organization defines stillbirth as a loss from 22 weeks’ gestation, and countries such as France, Sweden and the Netherlands follow that definition. Others, including our closest allies such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States, have gone even further and recognised stillbirths from 20 weeks.
Importantly, I point out that none of these changes relates to viability, which remains medically distinct; rather, they reflect a growing consensus that we must respond to the human experience of loss, not just clinical thresholds. I am not asking us to redefine viability; I am asking us to redefine compassion, to recognise humanity for every baby lost from 20 weeks onwards and to extend to their parents the dignity, support and legal recognition that what they go through desperately needs.
Let us be clear: this Bill proposes to change the definition of stillbirth to include losses from 20 weeks’ gestation until birth. This would enable thousands of grieving families each year to access protection already afforded to those whose loss occurs after 24 weeks, including bereavement leave, maternity and paternity pay, eligibility for funeral funds and the formal recognition of their baby’s stillbirth. This is not only just but well overdue. The law should not distinguish between the heartbreak of a 23-week loss and a 24-week loss; the pain is the same, the baby is the same and the need for support is the same.
I am mindful that some may express concern that this proposal could affect the rights and privacy of those who undergo a lawful termination of pregnancy between 20 and 24 weeks, whether for elective reasons or out of medical necessity. It is important to note that reducing the gestational threshold for stillbirth registration to 20 weeks could, under the current legal framework, result in approximately 3,000 terminations falling within the scope of the mandatory registration each year. This would mean that individuals’ personal details would be formally recorded and, potentially, made disclosable under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 via the Registrar-General. For many, this could represent a significant and distressing intrusion, with implications for their physical and mental well-being.
With this in mind, in a survey conducted by Saying Goodbye, of the 194 people who had undergone a termination for medical reasons—known as a TFMR—more than 87% of the people who terminated between 20 and 24 weeks stated that they would welcome mandatory registration if it meant that their baby would be classed as stillborn. To avoid any unintended consequences, and following the precedent set in other Acts, I propose that any legislative amendment in this area should include a clear and specific exemption—namely, to exclude cases where an elective, non-medical termination was chosen but to include terminations for medical reasons. This would ensure that elective terminations between 20 and 24 weeks would not be subject to stillbirth registration, would not require certification by a clinic, would not impose any legal duty to register the loss with a registrar, and would exclude these losses from statutory benefits. This safeguard would uphold the integrity of the proposed changes while protecting the privacy and dignity of those affected by complex and often heartbreaking decisions.
My Bill is about fairness and consideration. It is about modernising outdated legislation in line with global best practice. Above all, it is about honouring the lives of those who were lost too soon and standing alongside the parents who carry that loss for the rest of their lives. This is why I am an ambassador for Saying Goodbye, a charity that is at the forefront of support and walks alongside tens of thousands of bereaved parents each month. I urge your Lordships to join me in supporting this Bill. Let us ensure that no grieving parent is left without support, recognition or dignity simply because of a date on a medical chart. Let this House be remembered not only for debating this issue but for acting on it. I look forward to listening to the other speakers and to what the Minister has to say. I beg to move.
Baroness Benjamin (LD)
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken on this important issue. I also thank the Public Bill Office and the Library for their support and guidance; I am most grateful to them.
I commend the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Guildford for sharing his personal experiences of working with those suffering from baby loss and showing empathy for those parents. That is what we are asking for.
I thank my noble friend Lady Featherstone for her support; I felt we were kindred spirits as she told the House of her personal experiences and empathy to those who suffered a stillbirth before 24 weeks. It is heartbreaking.
I thank my noble friends Lady Barker and Lady Bottomley for their brief contributions. My noble friend Lady Barker raised an important point, which I have taken to heart. As I said, however, my Bill is not asking for changes to the age of viability or changes to abortion law. By adding a specific exemption within the Bill, we will exclude termination between 20 and 24 weeks from the requirement of the Bill. I reassure my noble friend that we are going to make sure that people who have elective terminations do not have to register. We understand that some might be vulnerable, so we want to show compassion to their predicament. That is what this Bill is about: showing compassion and consideration.
I hear the concerns of the noble Baroness, Lady Finn. However, I repeat that precedent has been set by other Acts that there will be exemptions for those who suffer elective termination. I keep repeating that because it is really important. I do not want us to blindly go ahead and forget about other people’s feelings, because we are talking about those physical and mental emotions that need to be considered. Therefore, they will not be cast aside or not thought about in this Bill.
I am deeply grateful to the Minister. I thank her for laying out the Government’s position and vision for making a difference to the care and consideration given to women who have suffered baby loss—in this instance, stillbirth—and for articulating so strongly the Government’s promise and commitment to make a difference to those who suffer baby loss.
It is estimated that between 2% and 4% of baby losses occur between 20 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. The World Health Organization and many leading nations already recognise stillbirth from 20 to 22 weeks, paving the way for change for us in the United Kingdom. My Bill is not calling for something that has not already been adopted by nations around the world. My Bill will be there to help those who have experienced one of the most traumatic experiences anyone could ever go through: the loss of a child. It simply wishes to extend support by a mere four weeks. Those who elect termination will be protected.
This Bill is asking government to show true compassion to bereaved parents and families across the country. I was pleased to hear that the Minister is happy to work closely with me and the Saying Goodbye charity on the issue to bring solace and consideration into the lives of those who need it. I am more than happy to work together to make changes. I will accept a compromise; that is what I am here for. I passionately commend this Bill to the House.