A crusading solicitor shared a heartbreaking picture as she called for new laws to support parents who have lost a child.
In an interview on GB News, Keeley Lengthorn showed a cherished picture of her son George who was born sleeping on March 3 this year.
Keeley Lengthorn showed a cherished picture of her son George who was born sleeping on March 3 this year.
Keeley Lengthorn
George is the third child Keeley has lost in the space of three years - but she’s now campaigning for a new law that forces employers to provide better support to staff who suffer a miscarriage.
The Miscarriage Leave Bill will be debated in the House of Commons next week and is being supported by the MP who tabled it Angela Crawley
Urging MPs to sign it, and the public to show their support she told Arlene Foster: “There's a real gap in the law unfortunately. So if you lose a baby like I did, I lost George 10 days before the statutory time limit, then the law says that you go back to work the next day.
“So if you lose a baby at 22 weeks like I did, you have to go back to work, despite the fact you go through exactly the same process in terms of a birth, terms of placenta, delivery, and you leave your baby, unfortunately, I'll say it in the harshest terms, at the mortuary.
“Yet the law says you go back to work the next day. Fortunately my employer provided me with the time off I needed to deal with what happened but many other people aren’t so fortunate which is why we need the law to change.”
She told Arlene Foster: “There's a real gap in the law unfortunately.
GB News
Keeley added: “The law is so archaic in this area. I didn't know that there was this statutory gap in the law, which means that we're not protected. But unfortunately we're at this point where women and men, because we can't we can't miss out men as well, are having to go back to work the next day after having to go through the ordeal of having a baby.
“There's no protection in place to help you plan the funeral, to help you deal with the emotion, with the counselling, with the grief.
“So that's why I have been campaigning so hard with the MP Angela Crawley to try and get the Miscarriage Leave Bill through Parliament next Friday.”
“I’m overwhelmed it’s got to this stage and just keep your fingers crossed that we can get enough MPs.
“At the moment we've got about 50 MPs on board across the parties, MPs who are supporting the bill and hopefully will support us next Friday. But there needs to be more.
“There's a current petition online in which I'm urging everyone to sign to try and get as much backing behind the bill as possible, because it's quite clear to everyone that there is this lacuna in the law that we need to fulfill.”