Premature baby maternity leave

danman

I have a question about premature baby leave, if anyone out there can help.
I've checked out the citizens advise site, but it seems unclear.

Our daughter was born 13 weeks prematurly.
She spent her first 8 weeks in hospital.

We were told by friends and my wifes work mates, that she was entitled to extra maternity leave, starting from when our baby left hospital.

Her HR department has said that she is not entitled to this extra leave and she has to return back to work in April, 6 months after the birth of our daughter.

Does anyone know if this is correct. Is she not entitled to extra baby leave due to a premature birth.
The first 2 months of her maternity leave was spent in hospital with our daughter.

She works in the public sector, if this makes any differance.

LashingLady

There isn't much on the Citizen's Information OR the Social Welfare site to be honest about the implications of having a premature baby on your leave entitlements but what I DO know is that in addition to the 26 weeks paid maternity leave, mothers are entitled to:

- a further 16 weeks unpaid leave
- time off for any remaining annual leave entitlements that weren't used in the year the baby was born or that were accrued while on maternity leave
- time off for any bank holidays that occured while she is on ML

There is also the option to use some parental leave (again unpaid) to extend the ML further. As far as I know each parent is entitled to a total of 14 weeks parental leave per child up to age 8.

I think this could bring the total maternity leave entitlement up to almost a year.

I don't think that there is any additional statutory leave for premature babies, but I would definitely be talking to the HR dept about the unpaid leave and holidays etc.

Nevyn

I have never heard of additional maternity leave in the case of premature births.
It is possible to shift the start of the leave to when the baby was born but that is far as it goes and I have checked in serveral places.

http://www.equality.ie/index.asp?locID=19&docID=-1

Where did they hear about it?
Are they confsusing it to suspending maternity leave to return to work while the baby is in hospital and then activating it again when the baby is discharged.

Hospitalisation of baby

If your baby is in hospital and you have been getting Maternity Benefit for at least 14 weeks (including at least 4 weeks since your baby was born) you can postpone payment of your remaining 12 weeks of benefit for up to 6 months. To postpone payment of your Maternity Benefit you need to apply in writing to the Maternity Benefit Section in the Department of Social and Family Affairs. When your baby is discharged from hospital you must notify the Maternity Benefit Section in writing and payment of your remaining 12 weeks Maternity Benefit will continue within seven days.

danman

Thanks for all your information.

I know that in northern Ireland, in the civil service, there is this type of leave.

We were told that a similar provision was given here.

She's very dissappinted, our daughter is still only 10lbs at 20 weeks old so she will still be very small when she has to go back to work.

Our current financial situation means that we can't afford unpaid leave.
I'm self employed and had a long spell in hospital myself, no work meant no money.

cch

No she wouldn't be entitled to any extra leave unfortunately.
If anything, I presume she got to spend all her maternity leave with her baby (albeit in hospital) instead of spending up to 4 weeks or more of the leave waiting for her arrival.

Khannie

I'd just ask a solicitor tbh. I'm not being blazé or whatever. I think that you'll get an irrefutable answer and maybe for free if your solicitor likes you.

janmc

I think someone might be mixing up late birth maternity leave entitlements?

If your baby is born later than expected and you have less than 4 weeks maternity leave left, you may be entitled to extend your maternity leave to ensure that you have a full 4 weeks off following the week of the birth. In these circumstances Maternity Benefit will continue to be paid to you until the baby is 4 weeks old.

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/BirthChildrenAndFamilies/MaternityBenefit/Pages/mb.aspx

eimsRV

Hi Danman,

congrats on your daughter. Paid maternity benefit commences on the day your daughter was born for 26 weeks. There is no extra paid leave as your baby was premature.

My little girl was born 8 weeks prem, I found Rollercoaster great, and in fact the maternity leave Q was asked only last week. Apparently some of the parents lobbied local TDs and reps to get the leave changed for mothers of premature babies to no avail!

Also just want to let you know there is a new voluntary organisation called Irish Premature Babies. Its a developing site, but already contains some useful info.

xx


Contact details:

Website: http:// www.irishprematurebabies.com


Face book: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/irish-premature-babies/246233458273?ref=ts

danman

cch wrote: »

No she wouldn't be entitled to any extra leave unfortunately.
If anything, I presume she got to spend all her maternity leave with her baby (albeit in hospital) instead of spending up to 4 weeks or more of the leave waiting for her arrival.

I wouldn't exactly say it was quality time though.
She was looking through a glass incubator, at a 2lb baby.

I'm sorry, it's a common reaction by most people.
One lady even said " wasn't she lucky to have it all over so quick!!!!"

this is our 3rd prem baby. 25 weeks, 30 weeks and now 27 weeks.
It's a very stressfull time, much more so than a full time birth.

littlebug

That's tough Danman,
It's incredible that there is no extra provision for parents of premature babies. You're still leaving a tiny baby behind when you go back to work and have all the extra health concerns for a premature baby.
It's an incredibly stressful time and you really can't compare those early weeks in hospital to the first weeks with a full term baby at home.

Is there any way your wife could work part-time/ job share for a couple of months to ease back into it ?

euromillions

Hi Danmam,

Support to you & your family. I had my daughter 3 weeks early & at 4 lbs she spent her 1st 2 weeks in hospital & in incubator.
Everyone kept saying isn't great you'll get some rest at night now with her in hospital but sure all I wanted was her to be home with me. It was so stressful going in & out from th hospital so I can't imagine what it was like for ye.
She is 6 months now & I'm going back to work on Monday & my heart is broken as I still think she's tiny(14lbs) now, she's flying now but smaller than other babies of her age.
I can't afford to take the extra leave either unfortunately but thankfully she's is going to be looked after by family but I'm gonna miss her like crazy

Good Luck, Fingers crossed for the Lotto win!!

danman

Thanks for all your messages.

tomcollins97

You will only get the standarn amount, which is generous. however, there is provision to start maternity leave later in the event of a premature birth. If you did not do this your employer is not obligued to give you any extra time and in the current environment I would not ask for extra days off.

cassid

Hi Danman,

As already mentioned, am afraid as it stands there is no additional paid leave. It's so unfair, on both parent and baby. Parents of prems are being denied the same one to one bonding time at home that many parents of full term babies get. You just can't really describe sitting beside an incubator for weeks/ months as quality time for mum and baby. There are days when you cant even hold your baby, days when your baby becomes so ill that you don't know if they will see tomorrow and then every day, you have to leave your baby and its heartbreaking to be separated, when all you long for is to be at home together.


I was involved in lobbying our T.D's in 2007, to highlight this problem and despite 100's of letter we got no where, got some lovely replies but that was it! But now, we have joined properly with a few more parents and are Irish Premature Babies, we will be bringing this issue into the public domain again and maybe as a voluntary organisation we might succeed this time. I know you can defer some of your leave, but that is just not viable for so many reasons, which I don't need to explain to you.

I have had two prems myself and one spent 12 weeks in hospital, so it’s an issue close to my own heart & several other parents involved in Irish Premature Babies have had babies in NICUs for weeks/months as well.

On our website, we have information on your rights & entitlements, depending on your babies’ health, but could be eligible for some of these. Make sure your wife claims back her maternity tax (if eligible) and also on breast pumps if used.
If you have a mortgage would you consider a moratorium? I know a few parents have used this option so they can stay at home a bit longer.

Sorry can't be any more help to you.

www.irishprematurebabies.com

bridgeman

Just had a beautiful daughter and what I want to ask is am I as a dad entitled to days off from work or do they have to come from a/l

danman

As far as I know you are entitled to unpaid paternity leave.
Not entirely sure. I took unpaid leave with both of ours.

cassid

Congratulations on the birth of your baby, hope you are all keeping well.

You need to check with your employer to see if they grant either paid or unpaid, its not bound by law so it is optional.

You can apply for parental leave and up to three days force majeure leave.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/leave-and-holidays/paternity_leave

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/leave-and-holidays/types_of_leave_from_work

My hubby took a mixture of days and he also his employer was very understanding allowing him a hour or two during the day to go to the unit.