Approx. 30,000 medically confirmed pregnancies are lost in Poland every year. Bereaved parents deserve support from the state; unfortunately, the current legislation provides for multiple formalities and rules out specific solutions in some cases.

In response to this problem, the Minister for Family, Labour and Social Policy, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, set up a team to develop solutions to support parents experiencing pregnancy loss and the death of a child shortly after birth.

Today, we are beginning to work on diagnosing the existing problems on the one hand and, on the other hand, on developing a direction for change, creating a white paper of sorts that, in the long term, will allow us to create a parent-friendly environment, a truly supportive environment, which does not cause any additional trauma to those who have already been hit hard in their lives, said Labour Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk.

Broad coalition to support parents experiencing loss

Representatives of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, the Office of the Ombudsman for Children, the Ombudsman for Civil Rights, the Patient Ombudsman, the Social Insurance Institution, as well as non-governmental organisations dealing with issues of support for people facing the loss of a pregnancy or the death of a child were invited to join the team.

Topics discussed during the first meeting included the need to determine the sex of the child as a prerequisite for the entitlement to shortened maternity leave or funeral allowance. This Ministry of Labour brought this issue to the attention of the participants in the meeting.

For whom the death benefit and the reduced maternity leave?

In Poland, women who have suffered a miscarriage have the option of registering the lost child at the registry office and organising the burial with the funeral allowance then provided. In addition, they are also entitled to a reduced maternity leave of 56 days and special leave.

However, such assistance is only available if the sex of the child can be determined. In the vast majority of miscarriages, the sex cannot yet be determined in a straightforward manner, as they usually occur before the 12th week of pregnancy.

In the opinion of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, changes are needed in this respect.

What will the team work on?

The team for the development of solutions to support parents experiencing pregnancy loss and the death of a child shortly after birth will continue to work on proposals for legislative changes that will provide parents with transparent and accessible support mechanisms. Subsequent meetings will look in detail at specific legal areas, including issues relating to social security, labour law and civil registration.