N.B. woman says time off after a miscarriage can help with grieving process

A New Brunswick woman who's had four pregnancy losses says time off work after a miscarriage can help with the physical and mental effects of a loss. I remember on my lunch break I went to the pharmacy and I was feeling so bad, like I was dizzy, I felt so tired. Allison Roy lives in Hampton. Roy had three ectopic pregnancies, meaning the fertilized egg implanted outside the main cavity of the uterus. are non-viable and can be life-threatening. She had to have surgery to remove it but felt guilty about taking time off to recover. I felt like in a fog and I went to the pharmacy and I was like telling the pharmacist maybe I need some iron supplement or some vitamin like I'm not feeling good and I remember he just told me like well you had a surgery four or five days ago. Roy says having something tangible, such as statutory leave or a death certificate after a loss, could make a pregnancy loss feel more real. Unlike most other provinces, New Brunswick's Employment Standards Act does not include leave specifically for miscarriages or pregnancy loss. In Canada, 15 to 25 percent of pregnancies end in a miscarriage. Ectopic pregnancy occurs in one to two percent of diagnosed pregnancies. A nursing professor at the University of New Brunswick says more work needs to be done to challenge the stigma surrounding pregnancy loss, but says that any changes to the Employment Standards Act should be careful to protect an individual's reproductive health information. We live in a country where abortion is completely decriminalized. We have an incredibly progressive legal regime. Nevertheless, experiences of abortion and pregnancy loss are heavily stigmatized and people are right to feel caution about abundantly sharing that information. Painter says public health has a responsibility to strengthen prenatal education and the topic should be discussed more publicly. Reproductive health is a dominant experience in the lives of women and people with uterus. Pregnancy is common. Birth is the most common reason for hospitalization in Canada. Abortion is the most common outpatient procedure there is. It's very difficult to count miscarriage, but it's very common. Menstrual pain is extremely common. Endometriosis, extremely common. So for women and people with uterus to participate in our economy, in our society, in a substantively equal way, that may mean accounting for and accommodating these different experiences.