The German Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, on Thursday evening passed a law that extends maternity leave protection to women who suffer a miscarriage after 13 weeks of pregnancy.

A large majority of lawmakers voted in favor of the bill which aims to support women during a period of physical and emotional recovery, said Sarah Lahrkamp, a lawmaker from the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

There were two nearly identical bills on the subject. As part of a cross-party agreement, the parliamentary committee responsible decided to adopt the text introduced by the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc.

Under current German law, women are usually entitled to paid maternity leave starting six weeks before the birth and continuing for eight weeks after the birth.

However, this did not apply in the event of a miscarriage.

What does the new law change?

Previously, women who suffered a miscarriage before the 24th week of pregnancy had to actively apply for medical leave. Whether they would get it was sometimes unclear.

With the new regulation, women who miscarry after the 13th week of pregnancy will have the option of taking maternity leave. However, women are not obliged to take it if they prefer not to.

The law will be discussed in the Bundesrat, the upper house of the German parliament, on February 14. If it is approved there, it could go into effect on June 1 of this year.

It is estimated that approximately 6,000 miscarriages occur in Germany each year between the 13th and 24th week of pregnancy. However, the majority (about 84,000) occur before the 12th week of pregnancy, which is not covered by the new maternity leave law.

dh/zc (AFP, dpa)