I was sent home bleeding, but I couldn’t afford to be off so I returned to work broken, weak, and grieving
Two women who lost their unborn babies in pregnancy gave moving testimony to Blackburn with Darwen borough’s full Council Forum before it unanimously voted to urge the government to extend two weeks statutory bereavement leave to families affected by pregnancy and baby loss.
Sarah Bernasconi-Parsons and Joanne Edwards both addressed the meeting on Thursday night in support of the motion on the issue. And senior councillors Vicky McGurk and Mustafa Desai added their own experiences of the pain of miscarriage to the two women’s pleas.
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Ms Bernasconi-Parsons told the meeting: “I am a Blackburn resident, but also mother to Maggie-Pearl Parsons, who was born sleeping in 2015. Maggie is my only child, and the purpose I started Maggie’s Stillbirth Legacy, to both break the taboo of pregnancy and child loss, but also support all communities suffering pregnancy and child loss no matter the gestation of the child.
“I want to give a testimonial tonight from two of my many parents who have suffered pregnancy loss, about what it meant to them – Katie and Rebecca, Blackburn residents. Rebecca said: ‘I was sent home to recover, bleeding, sore and empty. They signed me off work for 2 weeks. Pain and mental drain, grief I’d never experienced and an emptiness beyond anything I’d felt.
“’I wasn’t sick, I was grieving, and sore and tired. My wage came through and I realised two weeks’ pay was missing- I hadn’t been with my employer for over a year so to add insult to my debilitating situation I also didn’t get paid. I hadn’t realised this was the case…. I wasn’t sick, I didn’t have a tummy bug, a cold? I couldn’t afford to be off any longer so returned to work, broken, weak and still grieving’.”
Ms Edwards said: “In March 2013, I experienced what is clinically referred to as a late miscarriage, a term I have always struggled with. In reality, my son named Luke was born sleeping before 24 weeks. At the time, I had no option other than to take sick leave, yet I was not sick.
“Our world had fallen apart. Our much-loved and desperately wanted first baby had died. A few months after losing Luke, I established a charity called Friends of Serenity, which supports families across East Lancashire who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, and neonatal death.
“Through this work, I see first-hand how many local families experience the loss of a baby. In 2025 alone, we provided more than 1,200 miscarriage keepsakes and approximately 100 plus memory boxes for losses before 24 weeks.
“These numbers are not just statistics. Behind every figure is a family like mine, their hopes and dreams, and a lifetime of milestones that will never be reached.”
Council finance boss Cllr McGurk said: “I’m also an angel mum. I lost my baby between my two children.”
4BwD group leader Cllr Desai said: “Having been the recipient of some devastating news yesterday that my daughter had had a miscarriage I deeply resonate with the feelings that you’ve gone through so from our side we wholeheartedly support the motion.”
Cllr Gunn said: “This motion is important. It raises awareness and gives us some inkling of what the experience must be. But in now way does it suggest that two weeks paid leave is enough.”