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Peers support Bill to establish paid leave for parents of premature or sick babies

A new Bill to establish extended paid leave for parents of premature and sick babies is a step closer to becoming law after passing its Second Reading in the House of Lords.

Launched last year, the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill aims to provide support for parents who have sick or premature babies. It would entitle parents whose baby had spent at least 7 consecutive days in hospital within their first month of life outside of the womb to a statutory pay of £156.66 a week or 90% of their average earnings for up to 12 weeks. This would be in addition to any other maternity or paternity pay to which the parents are entitled.

The Bill was introduced by Conservative peer, Baroness Wyld, and SNP MP, Stuart McDonald in June last year and seeks to ensure that parents of sick and premature babies are able to spend time with their baby rather than being forced to return to work due to financial constraints.

Bill passes through the House of Lords

Last Friday, the Bill passed an important milestone in the House of Lords where it was praised by a number of peers.

Lord Patel, an obstetrician, called it a “compassionate bill that will help thousands of parents at a very anxious time of their lives”.

“Tiny babies spend weeks or months, sometimes more than a year, connected to ventilators, feeding tubes or, in some cases, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines.”

While praising the Bill, he raised concerns that the Bill would not support people who are self-employed.

Former leader of the DUP, Baroness Foster, lamented that the Bill would not apply to Northern Ireland and hoped it could be replicated once the Executive is up and running again.

Bliss, a charity for babies born sick or premature, has signalled their support for the legislation and has provided important data on this issue for parliamentarians. Chief executive, Caroline Lee-Davey said “Parents being involved in caregiving is vital – babies have the best outcomes when their parents can deliver hands-on care, and no parent should have to choose between work or being by their sick baby’s side. We look forward to working with Stuart and colleagues across parliament to ensure that this Bill becomes law”.

The Bill only has three more stages to complete before becoming law.

Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “If a baby is born extremely prematurely (before 28 weeks) it is more or less guaranteed that he or she will spend a long time in hospital so this legislation is a real boon for parents of these children”.

“However, it is immensely sad that, while so much effort is expended on babies outside of the womb, disabled babies at the same gestational age can have their life ended through abortion”.

Dear reader,

Despite the Leadbeater assisted-suicide Bill passing its Third Reading on 20 June, it scraped through by just 23 votes (314-291) after enjoying a 55-vote majority at Second Reading. Had 12 more MPs switched sides, the Bill would be dead. It now limps into the Lords with a wafer-thin majority, where peers can amend, delay or reject it outright.

THE CHALLENGE

Dignity in Dying, My Death My Decision and Humanists UK have poured millions into pushing assisted suicide and will fight hard to stop the Lords overturning the Bill.

At the same time, the Antoniazzi abortion-up-to-birth amendment, passed by MPs in June, also heads to the Lords. If it becomes law, it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason – including sex-selective purposes – and at any point up to and during birth.

We will be up against the UK’s largest abortion providers, BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes), who are expected to push for even more extreme changes to our abortion laws in the Lords.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Thousands of vulnerable lives are now at stake. Battling these two threats is the biggest and most expensive effort in our history, and has drained our limited resources. To fight effectively on both fronts, we aim to raise £200,000 by midnight this Sunday (13 July 2025).

Every donation, large or small, will help protect lives, and UK taxpayers can add 25p to every £1 through Gift Aid at no extra cost.

Will you make a donation now to help protect vulnerable lives from these major threats?

Ask your local representatives to take the Both Lives Pledge