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Three student midwives who were denied paid maternity leave while training lost their sexual discrimination case yesterday.

Despite ruling against the three women, the Central London Employment Tribunal was highly critical of the Department of Health's ?6,000 annual bursary scheme, which allows for 60 days of sick leave but stops payment if a student takes maternity leave. The tribunal pointed out that before the midwife training scheme was made more academic in 2000, trainees were considered employees with maternity rights under employment law.