Yay!! The Mayor of London says he will give extra leave to City Hall staff who have babies born prematurely.

Employees of City Hall will now be entitled to paid leave if their baby is born prematurely, or is in need of neonatal care in hospital. 

Current the law states that maternity and paternity leave begins the day after birth - even if the baby is premature. Which we think is so unfair on parents of premature babies, and added pressure during a really difficult time. And this isn't a niche issue, this is a situation faced by 60,000 parents of premature babies in the UK each year.

Similar policies have already been adopted by Sony Music, Croydon, Southwark and Waltham Forest Councils, and Sadiq Khan says he hopes the proposals will "encourage other employers to learn from the approach". We really hope it does, but wish the law was changed so it's mandatory.

If approved, a parent who gives birth to their baby before 37 weeks, will be entitled to a day's premature baby leave and pay for every day between their baby's birth and the due date. In the same scenario parents going on paternity leave will be allowed an additional two weeks' leave.