Mum praises extra leave for premature baby parents

A mother who said she faced the "terrifying" choice of choosing between her premature baby and her job has praised and welcomed a change in the law.

Ashley Wiseman, from Basildon, Essex, spent seven months on a neonatal intensive care unit after her daughter Isla was born premature at 24 weeks, weighing 655g (1lb 7oz).

The teacher said her trauma was compounded by not knowing if she would have a job once the ordeal was over.

MPs approved measures on Tuesday to allow eligible parents to take up to 12 weeks of leave, fully-paid in some circumstances, from 6 April.

Time off could be taken on top of any other leave parents were entitled to, including maternity and paternity leave, under the new legislation.

Doctors gave Isla a 2% chance of survival when she was born 50 minutes after her sister, Esme, who was stillborn in 2018.

Ms Wiseman spent the next seven months going back and forth between Basildon and the Royal London Hospital while Isla, now aged seven, was cared for.

"You have to make a decision about how much time you spend with a little baby that is extremely vulnerable and you don't know if they're going to make it," she told BBC Essex.

"The last thing you want on your mind is thinking 'am I going to have a job at the end of all of this?'."

Ms Wiseman, who founded the Isla's Journey charity, said it was an "isolating" experience being surrounded by uncertainty about Isla's health and her own teaching career.

She added: "The regulations are a really, really good first step in starting to address some of that worry and concern."

Ms Wiseman's story was raised by Thurrock MP Jen Craft during the debate in Parliament.

The Labour MP called on the government to go further and offer financial support to parents paying for travel between their home and hospital.

Craft said: "When a child is admitted to a neonatal ward miles from home, parents have to make long and costly journeys to spend time with their baby.

"While these new regulations will take away the compounding financial burden of a loss of income, the travel still comes at a significant cost.

"Unless they are an inpatient, mothers and other parents are not provided with the basic amenities on the ward, such as a meal."

Business Minister Justin Madders said he would organise a meeting with Ms Wiseman to discuss the proposal in more detail.

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