Thousands of London parents should be eligible for extended parental leave if their babies are born prematurely, an MP will tell the Commons today.
The proposed changes to maternity and paternity laws presented by Labour’s Steve Reed come as Croydon mother Catriona Ogilvy’s petition for extended leave reaches 108,000 signatures.
With two sons born at 30 and 34 weeks, Ms Ogilvy said it would be fairer for paid parental leave to start on a baby’s due date.
She said: “I went back to work when Sam was eight-months-old but realistically he was acting more like a five-month-old. He was so dependent, he wasn’t able to sit up, we hadn’t weaned him. They are also very vulnerable to infection.
“And for me personally, and a lot of other mums, we have had our babies but we don’t feel like a mother because your baby is being looked after by nurses and doctors.”
London hospitals last year treated 11,912 babies in their 27 special care and neonatal intensive care units.
A survey by premature baby charity Bliss found that 59 per cent of parents of premature or sick babies thought maternity leave of 12 months was inadequate for their family’s needs.
This rose to over 70 per cent among those with babies born at 30 weeks or less who endured long and costly hospital stays. Almost 70 per cent of fathers had to return to work while their baby was still on the neonatal unit.
Mr Reed, MP for Croydon North, who presents his The Maternity and Paternity Leave (Premature Birth) Bill to the House of Commons today, said: “If a baby is in an incubator for three months that’s a large proportion of leave that’s used up.
"A baby has already been disadvantaged by being born early then is further disadvantaged by not spending time with its parents.”
Next he wants to arrange a meeting with Business Minister Margot James about how the legislation could be introduced.
He said: “There is quite considerable cross party support for this, so there’s real momentum behind this issue.”
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Despite being a neonatal nurse at Kings College Hospital. Ms Ogilvy said it was only when she had her own sons Samuel, five, and Jack, three, that she realised the struggles parents of premature children face.
Her online petition asks for an extra week’s leave for every week parents of premature children have to spend waiting in hospital for their child to be allowed home.
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