🤍 Grief after miscarriage and loss of a child
In brief
The loss of a child before, during or shortly after birth is treated differently in law. Under civil status law, a stillbirth is a child showing no signs of life from the completed 24th week of pregnancy or from a birth weight of 500 grams; it must be registered at the registry office and is given a first name in the birth register. A loss before that counts under civil status law as a miscarriage and does not have to be registered, but at the parents' request it can also be documented and buried.
Since 1 June 2025, the Maternity Protection Adjustment Act (Mutterschutzanpassungsgesetz) has for the first time provided staggered maternity protection periods after a miscarriage from the 13th week of pregnancy – before that, entitlement to maternity protection began only from the 24th week of pregnancy.
Step by step
- Keep the medical certificateKeep the certificate of the miscarriage or stillbirth for later applications (e.g. maternity protection).
- In case of stillbirth, have it registeredFrom 500 grams or the completed 24th week of pregnancy, the birth is registered at the registry office – the clinic usually helps with this.
- In case of miscarriage, ask about documentation and burialBelow 500 grams there is no obligation to register; but many clinics and cemeteries make it possible, on request, to obtain a certificate under § 31 PStV and a (collective) burial.
- Claim the maternity protection periodFrom the completed 13th week of pregnancy there is an entitlement to a staggered protection period towards the employer.
- Seek supportContact specialised services such as the Bundesverband Verwaiste Eltern und trauernde Geschwister (VEID) or advice centres for pregnancy loss.
Deadlines
- Taking the protection period is voluntary – women can expressly waive it without suffering any disadvantage as a result.
- Before 1 June 2025, entitlement to maternity protection after a miscarriage began only from the 24th week of pregnancy – the new rule has applied only since that date.
- The 500-gram limit for the duty to register a stillbirth has nothing to do with the emotional weight of the loss – even for a miscarriage not subject to registration, parents often have the option of a (collective) burial.
- (Marriage) partners have no statutory entitlement of their own to maternity protection – for possible release from work, the general, non-uniform rule applies to them (see Grief at work and time off).
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Maternity Protection Adjustment Act 2025
The Maternity Protection Adjustment Act (Mutterschutzanpassungsgesetz) was passed by the Bundestag on 30 January 2025, confirmed by the Bundesrat on 14 February 2025 and came into force on 1 June 2025. In § 3 Abs. 5 MuSchG it introduces staggered protection periods after a miscarriage from the completed 13th week of pregnancy (2 weeks from the 13th, 6 weeks from the 17th, 8 weeks from the 20th week of pregnancy) and extends the special protection against dismissal under § 17 Abs. 2 MuSchG to four months for women who suffer a miscarriage from the 13th week of pregnancy. Affected women for the first time receive entitlement to maternity benefits during the protection period, without a medical sick note being required.
Distinction between stillbirth and miscarriage (§ 31 PStV)
Under § 31 of the Civil Status Ordinance (Personenstandsverordnung), a stillbirth is a child weighing at least 500 grams with no signs of life (heartbeat, umbilical cord pulsation, lung breathing); it is entered in the birth register and is given a first name. Children under 500 grams with no signs of life count under civil status law as a miscarriage and are not entered in the civil status registers; on application by the person who would have had parental custody in the event of a live birth, however, the registry office issues a separate certificate with a first name.
A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.