BATTLING BUREAUCRACY

When Mary* went into hospital with bleeding at 25 weeks, she was transferred to a tertiary hospital 90 minutes from home. That was Friday.

Her baby was alive but they wanted to keep her in hospital for at least seven weeks, in case she went into premature labour. Sam* gave up his teaching job to look after their two other children.

On Tuesday morning, testing showed their baby was sick. On Wednesday, Mary was transferred to Auckland. Sam went with her.

About an hour before the appointment, Mary went into labour and their baby was born. She opened her eyes, gave a yawn and snuggled into mum. They had an hour with her before she went to sleep.

‘‘It was remarkable,’’ Sam says. ‘‘I just thought, if you’re dying, it wouldn’t look so peaceful.’’

Auckland Hospital gave them a separate room and helped fill out the forms – the birth and death paperwork and the permit to let them transport her. They organised clothes and professional photos.

They had to wait till Friday for the autopsy. And then they went home.

Sam paid for private counselling. They got out of bed for the other kids. The routine helped with healing.

Months went by and Sam still had no work. They were chewing through savings. Mary was still on paid parental leave but wanted to go back to work, so they looked at transferring the leave to Sam.

The eligibility flowchart said nothing about the death of the baby. So they chased up all the requirements – JP, employer – and applied. Then IRD called Mary to say she couldn’t work and warned her of the consequences.

Sam inquired in person and was told he couldn’t transfer the leave because there was no baby to look after. He pointed out his wife also had no baby to look after. He was referred to MBIE. It said mothers still get leave because they have to recover physically. He could challenge the decision through the Employment Relations Authority, it said.

‘‘If we’re clearly not eligible, that needs to go on the form. We just don’t want that to happen to someone else.’’

*Names have been changed for privacy reasons