‘I’m still a mum’: Grieving mother’s heartbreak after maternity leave cancelled

The death of her newborn girl after just six weeks was the cruellest blow for a Sydney mother, yet the cancellation of her maternity leave forced her back to work despite her grief.

The death of her newborn girl after just six weeks was the cruellest blow for a Sydney

mother, yet the cancellation of her maternity leave forced her back to work despite her immeasurable grief.

Little Priya was born prematurely at 24 weeks and six days, and while she thrived under the care of the neonatal intensive care nurses at a Sydney hospital, a condition unrelated to her prematurity took her life six weeks later.

While her father Chris Breen, a teacher, used his three-month parental leave to mourn the loss of his baby girl, Priya’s mum – as she wishes to be known – had her maternity leave cancelled.

Chris Breen with his wife have launched a petition for maternity leave to be granted to all mothers of infant deaths and stillborn babies. Picture: Dylan Coker

The inner west Sydney couple has this month launched an online petition in honour of Priya – and to ensure other bereaved parents are afforded the time they need to heal.

In just two weeks, more than 10,000 people have signed the Change.org petition which calls on the federal government to make it illegal for employers to cancel approved, paid maternity leave in the event of infant death or stillbirth.

“Priya was so beautiful, and loving and sweet. She was very responsive and intelligent for her age as a premature baby,” her mother said.

“Whenever she heard my voice, she would look my way and look as if she understood what I was saying. She was such an inspiration to me and everyone who knew her, as she was such a strong girl.

“I used to call her my ‘Fighter Girl’ as she went through a lot, being a premature baby, and used to come out of every health predicament, just like that.

“She was my ‘Fighter Girl’, my ‘Angel Girl’. As my family says about Priya, ‘She

came, she went, and she conquered our hearts’.”

Five days after Priya passed, the heartbroken mother passed on the news to the company where she’d worked for over a decade and was “gutted and shocked” to learn her maternity leave would be cancelled.

“On that very day, while giving their condolences, I was informed by two different people in the organisation that my leave was being ‘sorted out’,” she said.

“I was in a state of shock, that my baby passed and I had to say my final goodbye to her a few days prior at her funeral. And to hear that my leave was being sorted, when I had no idea that the leave needed to be sorted, was another shock I had to deal with.

Little Priya was born prematurely at 24 weeks and six days last June. Picture: Dylan Coker

“When Priya passed away, there were some questions I grappled with, I later verified in counselling that grieving mothers with baby loss do feel and question. I was questioning myself if I was ever a mother, because my baby lived for 42 days only, and am I still a mother now that she is gone?

“So when my company cancelled my maternity leave, it validated the fact that maybe I am no longer a mother because even the company I work for is saying that I don’t deserve to get maternity leave and I am just not worthy, as I am not a mother.

“In hindsight, now I do realise that I always was and always will be Priya’s mum forever. I am worthy of that maternity leave just as any other mother of a living baby would be, as I carried the baby for all those months and delivered my baby.”

The couple sought advice from Fair Work Australia, and it was confirmed that legally employers can cancel paid maternity leave – even though they cannot cancel unpaid leave – in the event of infant death or stillbirth.

“The law needs to change. My husband, who is a public servant under the NSW industrial system, got three months paid paternity leave, while I was back at work,” she said.

“This shows that different humane workplace laws are possible. These should be extended nationally to the federal industrial relations system.”

Priya’s mum pleaded for at least six weeks’ maternity leave – to represent the period her child was alive – but that request was ignored she said. In the end she used personal and long service leave to allow herself a break.

Chris Breen and his wife sought advice from Fair Work Australia and were told employers can cancel paid maternity leave in the event of infant death or stillbirth. Picture: Dylan Coker

“There was no way that I could go back to work in just four weeks, which was the paid personal leave that the company had given in replacement of the maternity leave,” she said.

“Even when I returned to work, I was still not ready, and felt very emotional, and raw, and I remember sitting at my desk and crying or going to the ladies’ room to cry.”

While the couple will forever mourn the loss of their child last year, they’re acting now to help other parents experiencing loss.

“I launched the Change.org petition with my husband to honour our Priya, and for these

changes of maternity leave to be granted to all mothers of infant deaths and stillborn babies

to be Priya’s legacy,” she said.

“No other grieving mothers should have to worry about the cancellation of their

leave and to worry about going back to work.

“Since baby Priya’s petition, other mothers in similar circumstances have reached out to me. Some mothers have stated that their workplaces have treated them with respect and dignity and that they still did get the full paid maternity leave. Other mothers have reached out and stated that they have had their maternity leave cancelled and they have had to go back to work, and some as little as in two weeks, after their baby’s passing. It is just horrific and inhumane.

“My baby Priya did matter and does matter! So does every baby who dies in infancy, and every stillborn baby. As they say, a stillborn baby is still born. Let’s us, as a society, start respecting these babies and their grieving mothers.”

Find the petition at www.change.org/p/baby-priya-s-petition-don-t-cancel-maternity-leave-for-infant-death-or-stillbirth

Originally published as ‘I’m still a mum’: Grieving mother’s heartbreak after maternity leave cancelled