Benefits & Baby Bond with a stillborn.

xylophone

A great sadness for your daughter and the family - I hope she is getting all the emotional and practical support that she needs.

As her daughter was stillborn at 26 weeks, it would seem that she is eligible to claim the grant - it would be understandable if she is just too upset to argue her case for herself - would a visit to CAB be helpful?

oldboy64

This thread has brought up some very stirring memories and thoughts.

Not being a woman I can only imagine what the OP is going through.

The last thing on my daughters mind was claiming anything - she was too traumatised. Even now 14 years later she still feels the guilt and will not talk about my grandson.
She had a still birth having gone 38 weeks. The hospital apologised for causing the death - but she couldn't face claiming compensation at the time. She asked about it a couple of years ago and was told that she was too late unfortunately and the case warrantied at least £300,000!! (hospital failed to realise preeclampsia when she was checked only hours beforehand and in severe pain - put down to it being normal)

She received nothing back in 1999, no maternity pay nothing. I had to pay for the funeral and the headstone. She had to go back to work after taking 3 weeks off 'on the sick'.

I didn't realise that there was any form of financial help - she really needed more than the 3 weeks she received.

I only hope that there is a better system now in place for mum's and their families, a system far better than what my daughter had to endure.

My grandson was never registered as being born or died - he never drew breath. We all felt that the system treated him much like an amputated leg - put it in the clinical waste sack. I had to fight to have a proper funeral, the hospital suggested he be buried in the hospital grounds but I refused.
She was simply told to get on with her life - rather cruel when I think about it now.

My thoughts are with the OP and their family.

gravitytolls

My thoughts are with you. We suffered such a loss ourselves last year, our daughter was 15. I received so much support from users on here, and I can't thank them enough. I'm certainly aware that had my little girl not suffered as she did at 20 weeks, the response to a birth in one so young would have received a different response.

Nonetheless I don't blame anyone for that, and I hope you will not take it too much to heart, there's a wealth of difference between the truly felt sorrow for such a dreadful loss and the words of those who are responding with their own social opinions but using your situation to make their point.

I can no offer no advice regarding finances I'm afraid, perhaps the CAB or the you gov website can help> But I urge you to please encourage your daughter to see her GP and perhaps ask for a referral for counselling. It takes a while to get an appointment, and as it turned out, it was about right, as the grief truly hit as the due date approached, with a breakdown and the desperate fear and worry that brought with it.

I also encouraged my DD to have the implant, as the body's response to a loss such as this is the desire to try again. The body and mind are unfulfilled having prepared for a birth, but at such a young age I feel it is inadvisable, not least because were it to happen again.... it doesn't bear thinking about.

I wish you both well and hope your recovery will not be too long.

emjay123

Hi, so very sorry for you loss. Our family has just been through the same thing 2 months ago the baby died a few days before the due date.
Firstly, it is the Sure Start Maternity Grant of £500 that i think you are asking about. It can be claimed from 29 weeks right through to 3 months after the birth. You should have a birth certificate and therefore be able to claim the grant within the 3 months after the birth, as your daughter gave birth after 24 weeks. Your daughter must be on some sort of income based benefits to claim eg Income Support or Income Based ESA. The form is the SF100 ( the appeal form is GL24 )
SANDS are great, and is the best place to go to for information they will point you in the right direction. As someone else said go and see your GP and see about some counselling. The must be some financial help available for you regarding paying for the headstone.
I hope that helps, and again so sorry for your loss.

seven-day-weekend

So sorry for your loss and I hope she gets the money for the headstone .

SkyeKnight

If there is some sort of government payment for funeral costs for people on low incomes (and I'm pretty certain it exists but I don't know what it's called) - it might be better to claim that and save the SureStart grant. The SureStart grant is meant to cover the extra costs of your first baby like buying a cot, pushchair, etc.

nottslass_2

So sorry for your loss X

Was you daughter employed ? If so she should be able to claim Maternity allowance.............
*pls excuse the copy and paste ( can never get the linky thing right)
3. Eligibility

You might get Maternity Allowance if:

• you’re employed, but you can’t get Statutory Maternity Pay
• you’re self-employed and paying Class 2 National Insurance contributions
• you’re self-employed and have a Small Earnings Exception certificate
• you’ve recently stopped working

Also, you must have:

• been employed or self-employed for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before the week your baby is due
• been earning at least £30 a week over any 13 week period

You may still qualify if you’ve recently stopped working and it doesn’t matter if you had different jobs or periods of unemployment.




If you lose the baby

You may still qualify if the baby is either:

• stillborn from the start of the 24th week of pregnancy
• born alive at any point during the pregnancy