Around 60,000 babies are born prematurely in the UK every year. Many can spend weeks or even months in hospital fighting for their lives. But limited maternity and paternity rights mean many parents are having to return to work much sooner than they would like. The charity Bliss which supports families of premature and sick infants has surveyed more than 700 parents and shared its data with 5 Live Investigates. It reveals two thirds of fathers had to return to work whilst their baby was on a neonatal unit and more than a quarter of them had to choose between taking time off when their baby was is in neonatal or when their child went home. The programme hears from parents like Gemma and Andy Reid who were forced to make some tough decisions when their baby Gabriel was born a year ago.

Parents of poorly babies demand extra leave

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