Woman who miscarried at 30,000 feet says Andy Burnham's bereavement leave policy is ‘just the start’

Warning: This article contains discussion of baby loss which some readers may find distressing.

A woman who suffered a miscarriage at 30,000 feet has spoken out about her ‘harrowing’ ordeal.

Aakanksha Chauhan began bleeding heavily in her plane seat last month, before then being forced to spend £200 in Heathrow Airport just to buy new clothes and blend in amid a crowd of travellers.

Speaking to LADbible, the 37-year-old now said she is constantly ‘still reliving’ the trauma in her head.

She has spoken out amid news that the government will be introducing two weeks' leave for any pregnancy loss - with Aakanksha calling it ‘just the start of the conversation’.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that from next April, employees in the UK who lose a spouse, partner, parent, adult child or sibling will be entitled to up to two weeks' unpaid leave.

These new rights will also now apply to parents who experience a miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy.

It had been eight weeks since Aakanksha's last menstrual period and she had started planning for motherhood

She has since posted on X, formerly Twitter, about her horror ordeal in a bid to help others and raise awareness by ‘speaking up for women who don’t feel seen’.

It is estimated that around one in five pregnancies end in a miscarriage.

Recounting what happened, she shared: “My first, and probably last, Lululemon purchase was not for Pilates. I bought it at Heathrow because I had miscarried at 30,000 feet and bled through every piece of clothing I was wearing.

“Nearly £200. That was the price of looking like an ordinary traveller again while my entire world was quietly ending beneath airport lights.

“I remember cleaning the blood from my body in a Heathrow bathroom, pulling on those new clothes and walking back into the terminal because I still had another flight to catch.

“People around me bought coffee, watched the departure board and complained about delays.

“Nobody knew that, minutes earlier, I had been staring at my blood-soaked clothes and trying to understand how I could board the next flight when the future I had imagined was no longer travelling with me.”

"I am still living it every day in my head"

Aakanksha, a drilling engineer from Aberdeen, told LADbible that she was back at work within a matter of weeks, but was unable to forget the trauma.

She tragically suffered an ‘empty sac miscarriage’, when a fertilised egg implants in the uterus and forms a gestational sac, but the embryo then fails to develop or stops growing extremely early.

But she emotionally recalled how 'it did not feel empty when we saw two lines'. She added: "It did not feel empty when we calculated a due date, imagined telling our families and quietly began rearranging our lives to make room for someone we already loved."

Although she has welcomed the government announcement, Aakanksha said the ‘next step in the conversation’ is automatic paid leave, as women should not struggle to survive after such a traumatic event.

“Burnham’s announcement has come at a time where I am still living it every day in my head,” she explained. “It’s only been a month, so it’s very fresh and a lived experience for me.

“Primarily, I was extremely blessed that I had the most support from my employers, even though it is a male-dominated industry.

“However, some of the stories that have come out from my post on X are harrowing to read. Some women said they had gone back to meetings at work while actively miscarrying, and so many women go through this.

“What the government is doing in terms of leave is great on their part. However, considering they are unpaid or under statutory sick pay, that needs to be the next step in the conversation.

“People shouldn’t have to worry about surviving and about whether or not they can pay their rent or the mortgage. It isn’t going to be enough for some people.”

Burnham described the loss of a baby at any stage as ‘devastating’.

“You and your partner shouldn’t have to worry about going straight back to work,” he posted on X.

"From April, women and their partners will be entitled to two weeks off after any pregnancy loss. And we’re making wider changes, with new rights to time off when you lose someone you love.

"When you’re grieving, you deserve the time and space to do that."

Laws should've been in place 'since the '60s'

Previously, only parents who have lost a child aged under 18 or stillborn from 24 weeks had a legal right to bereavement leave.

The Employment Rights Act, which became law in December last year, introduced a new legal right to unpaid leave for employees who have suffered a bereavement, including pregnancy loss, from the first day in a job.

The rights also cover women and their partners who experience pregnancy loss, including miscarriage, terminations and unsuccessful IVF embryo transfers.

It will also apply to the other biological parent, or intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement.

Aakanksha continued: “It's one of those conversations about something which should have already been in place from, like, the 1960s, because there would have been hundreds of thousands of women who would have experienced it in some way or another but never got the support.

“But for me, all of this is better late than never. I have this lived experience now, and I'm sure there's definitely somebody else living it without a social voice.

“Especially with me coming from a community where women are expected to keep their matters private, I feel it is my responsibility to use my voice and speak up, because it’s necessary for them to feel seen.

“The amount of DMs I have had over the last couple of weeks have been very comforting towards me, but it has also given women a space to scream and shout about their own experiences.

“It shows really how invisible this particular life event is for women, and how little it is spoken about."

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which represents UK businesses, said many employers already provide compassionate leave in these circumstances, but that it would engage with the government and unions to ensure the details work nationwide.

Miscarriage UK, which welcomed the move, said that ‘access to compassionate workplace support should not be dependent on a goodwill gesture’.

Vicki Robinson, UK chief executive for the charity, said: “This is an important step in recognising pregnancy loss as a bereavement and the profound impact it can have, and we hope will provide a baseline for employers to go further.

“We still strongly believe bereavement leave should be paid, and we will continue to press for this through our Leave for Every Loss campaign.

“We will continue to work with the Government to ensure the detail and guidance provide meaningful and compassionate support for everyone affected by pregnancy loss.”

Minister for the Future of Work, Kate Dearden, added: “No one should have to fight for time to grieve.

“These changes back people going through some of the hardest moments of life, whoever they are and wherever they work.

“I want to thank the campaigners, whose courage and testimonies have made this change happen.”

If you need support and advice following a pregnancy loss, you can contact the Tommy’s team at [email protected]. You can also call them for free on 0800 014 7800, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.