So she took a single sick day.
One sick day.
For the loss of her baby. 🤍
For many women, this is the reality of miscarriage leave. A loss so life-changing, heartbreaking, and physically exhausting is often reduced to a single day away from work, hidden under the label of “sick leave,” before they are expected to return to normal life as though nothing happened.
I know this reality personally. I’ve experienced multiple miscarriages myself, and each time I only took one day off. Physically, your body may appear “fine.” You tell yourself you should be okay, that you can push through, that other people may not understand why you are struggling so deeply. So you go back to work, answer emails, smile in conversations, and try to continue life while carrying grief that few people can see.
But mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, are we really okay?
Pregnancy loss is not just a medical event. It is grief. It is trauma. It is the loss of a future you had already begun imagining. The moment you see those two lines, something changes. You begin dreaming about names, milestones, nursery colours, birthdays, tiny kicks, and who that child may become. You start building a future around a baby who is already deeply loved.
When that baby is lost, those dreams are lost too.
Yet society often treats miscarriage as something women should recover from quickly and quietly.
In South Africa, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act provides six weeks of maternity leave for women who experience a stillbirth or miscarriage during the third trimester. While this recognition matters, many mothers who miscarry earlier in pregnancy are left without protected leave at all. Instead, they are expected to use sick leave, annual leave, or unpaid time off to recover from one of the most painful experiences a person can endure.
And even then, many women still feel guilty for taking time.
There is an unspoken pressure to “move on” quickly, especially after early pregnancy loss. Because the pregnancy may not have been publicly announced yet, many mothers grieve in silence. They return to work carrying physical pain, hormonal changes, anxiety, bleeding, exhaustion, and heartbreak, often pretending everything is okay because they do not know how to explain the depth of their loss.
But grief does not disappear after one day.
Healing after miscarriage is not only physical. Your body may recover in weeks, but emotionally the loss can stay with you for months or years. Certain dates become painful. Pregnancy announcements may hurt. Mother’s Day can feel unbearable. You may question yourself, your body, your future, and your identity. Some women experience depression, anxiety, panic attacks, or post-traumatic stress after pregnancy loss, yet many receive little support once the medical process is over.
This is why miscarriage leave matters.
Not because mothers are weak, but because loss deserves compassion.
Time off after miscarriage should not be viewed as a luxury or an overreaction. It should be recognised as necessary care. Women need space to process what has happened, attend medical appointments, recover physically, rest emotionally, and simply breathe without the pressure of immediately returning to productivity.
Partners need support too. Families need understanding too.
Most importantly, mothers need to know their loss mattered.
No amount of leave can erase the pain of losing a baby, but compassionate policies can make grieving parents feel seen instead of dismissed. They can remind mothers that they are human beings first, not just employees expected to continue functioning while their hearts are breaking.
This conversation needs to happen more openly. Miscarriage affects so many families, yet it is still surrounded by silence. The more we speak honestly about pregnancy loss and miscarriage leave, the more we create room for empathy, support, and change.
Because losing a baby is not “just” a miscarriage.
It is the loss of someone deeply loved. 🤍
