Parents of babies receiving neonatal care in England, Scotland and Wales may be entitled to additional pay and time off work if their baby is born on or after 6 April 2025, when the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act comes into effect.
Bliss has lots of parent centred information on its website to support families with everything they will need to know about this new entitlement, and will be sending posters to neonatal units across England, Scotland and Wales to signpost parents to this new information. Please look out for these arriving in the post, and display them in your unit from 6 April to help support parents to get the information they need.
As this new entitlement comes into effect, health professionals should also be aware of the following issues:
- Unit space and support for families – this new entitlement should result in more fathers and non-birthing parents able to spend more time on the neonatal unit throughout their baby’s stay; units should proactively consider how they can best accommodate and support these parents within the neonatal environment and in their delivery of Family Integrated Care
- Initial transition period – there will be a period, during April and May in particular, when families who are eligible for this new entitlement are sitting alongside those who aren’t (if their baby was born before 6 April), and it may be particularly challenging for these families to know they have only just missed out. Please be aware of and sensitive to the disparities this will present for families during this period, and ensure that all families are being offered appropriate emotional and psychological support, as well as signposted to whatever financial and practical support the unit has available
- Ongoing differences for those who don’t qualify for neonatal leave and pay – while tens of thousands of parents each year will be eligible for the new entitlement to neonatal leave and pay, there are some parents who won’t be eligible, including those who are self-employed or contract workers. As above, these families may also feel a more acute sense of unfairness over time if they see other families able to take this leave, and again they should be offered appropriate emotional and psychological support, as well as signposted to whatever financial and practical support the unit has available.
