The Member of Parliament for Jean-Lesage for Québec solidaire, Sol Zanetti, is demanding five weeks’ bereavement leave for the parent who did not carry the child during a perinatal death.
• Read also: Energy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon has no idea of electricity needs by 2050
• Read also: Bloc Congress: “a historic window” opens for independence, says PSPP
Sol Zanetti is currently inviting Quebecers to sign an online petition to this effect. The petition asks the Government of Quebec to amend the QPIP and the Act respecting labor standards (LNT) so that in the event of the death of an unborn child occurring between the 20e week of pregnancy and the first anniversary of the child’s life, bereavement leave for a period of five weeks is also offered to the parent who did not carry the child.
“Perinatal bereavement is more common than you think and the suffering that results from it is immense,” Sol Zanetti said in a statement. It is a complex and little recognized suffering, which requires that we take a time to rest. Giving bereavement leave for five weeks would cost the government nothing more and allow bereaved parents to take care of their mental health.”
For her part, the worker and trainer in perinatal bereavement at the organization Les Perséides, in Quebec, Isabelle Caron, insisted on the particular challenges of a parent who did not carry the child.
“[…] In addition to being present in his own mourning, he must also support the mother in this terrible ordeal, she said. Studies show that the non-carrier parent often experiences staggered mourning, which can take up to three years following the loss. The parent then often finds himself faced with symptoms of depression and exhaustion.”
The petition will be available until May 25 on the website of the National Assembly of Quebec.