A widowed father who was unable to receive paid parental leave after his wife died in childbirth will be compensated by the Government.

Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said today that the Christchurch-based father would receive an ex gratia payment of the equivalent amount to the paid leave he had missed out on.

An ex gratia payment is a one-off, no obligation grant.

The solution comes after the Government said it was urgently looking at a solution for a father who was denied paid parental leave after his partner died while giving birth.

The father, from Christchurch, was unable to get the entitlement because his partner had not worked for 12 months before delivering the baby.

Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said this morning that it was a "terrible situation" and "not what we want for the family".

"We're urgently looking for a way to make it right," he said.

He could not comment further at this stage.

The baby was born at 33 weeks by C-section after the mother's heart stopped as she arrived at hospital.

After the C-section she started breathing again but then her heart stopped again and she had severe bleeding.

She was taken to surgery but died an hour later.

She had planned to be a stay-at-home mum, and didn't have a job in the 12 months leading up to the expected date of delivery so she wasn't entitled to paid parental leave, according to the Ministry for Business, Employment and Innovation.

The father, who was also looking after his partner's two kids from a previous relationship, was being supported by his work. But that was not a sustainable option and he wanted to get access to paid parental leave.

MBIE said it was aware of how unfair the situation was and was working on a solution.

It had checked whether there was ministerial discretion in such cases, but there was not.