Women who have had a stillborn baby are now eligible for maternity benefits from the nation’s labor insurance program, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Labor, granting official approval to what used to be legally ambivalent area in the Labor Insurance Act (勞工保險條例).
The act previously only stipulated maternity benefits for healthy births and premature deliveries, with new mothers eligible to receive the equivalent of two months’ salary, based on their average monthly salaries over the previous six months.
New regulations provide women who have suffered stillbirths or miscarriages with the same maternity benefits, on the condition that the applicant is more than 20 weeks into the pregnancy and provides proper certification.
Following meetings with medical experts late last month, ministry officials decided on a broad definition that includes stillbirths or miscarriages more than 20 weeks into pregnancy as cases of childbirth. However, miscarriages, defined as the natural death of a fetus within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, would not be covered.
Regulations on maternity benefits for different insurance programs, including those that provide coverage for civil servants, military personnel and unemployed people, have been revised accordingly, ministry officials said.
Like all instances of childbirth, new mothers who have given birth to stillborn children are also entitled to eight weeks of paid maternity leave from their employers.
According to a report from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2,468 cases of stillbirth occurred in Taiwan during 2012, accounting for roughly 1 percent of deliveries in total.
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