A couple of weeks ago, my partner and I had the good fortune to attend the 20-week screening scan for our second child and to learn that everything is progressing well.
As with the same scan for our daughter, who is now 2 and a half, I was both nervous and excited in equal measures, so it was a real relief that it all went smoothly. It was very exciting to see the little creature that is hiding away in there and to hear that he/she is growing as expected! The staff at the Royal Free hospital near where I live in London were friendly and professional.
As a couple we are fortunate because my husband’s employer is flexible and accommodating and so on both occasions they gave him time off work to attend the appointment with me. He was also there at the earlier scans for both pregnancies. It’s just as exciting for fathers to get those first images of their unborn children and I also found it reassuring to have him there, just in case there was anything other than good news.
A lot of employers already allowed expectant fathers or the mother’s partner to take time off to attend ante-natal appointments. However, some have historically not been so flexible and so, from 1st October 2014, expectant fathers or the partner of a pregnant woman have had the legal right to unpaid time off work to accompany the mother to ante-natal appointments, if that is what the mother wants. This applies to fathers and to partners in same-sex couples. It’s not a right for the partner to attend the appointment (that remains the pregnant woman’s own decision whether she wants someone there or not) but if the mother wants it, the partner may ask his/her employer for unpaid time off and the employer has to agree to it.
The partner may take time off to attend up to 2 appointments and take unpaid time off for each. Further guidance can be found here.
This new right is part of the package of measures designed to support families in balancing work and other responsibilities which was brought into law by the Children and Families Act 2014. As you’ll know from other blogs, the right to request flexible working was extended to all employees with 26 weeks’ service in June this year and the new system of Shared Parental Leave and Pay will come into force in April 2015.
So hopefully this is a small but significant step in supporting parents in the period leading up to and after their children are born. The answer to more direct questions asked of me at the moment is a) no we didn’t find out whether it is a girl or a boy and b) no I’m not sharing photos!
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