“Childbirth” is defined in reg.2(1) of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 as “the birth of a living child or the birth of a child whether living or dead after 24 weeks of pregnancy”.

An employee who gives birth to a live baby, which then dies, is therefore entitled to maternity leave regardless of at what point in the pregnancy the child was born, and however short the period for which it lived. An employee who has a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy will also be entitled to maternity leave. In either case, where the employee fulfils the qualifying criteria for statutory maternity pay, she will be entitled to receive this.

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