A Time to Value - Media Pack
A Time to Value - Proposal for a National Paid Maternity Leave Scheme
Media Pack
The contribution of
paid maternity leave to the health and wellbeing of mothers and newborn
children
The health and
wellbeing of new mothers and babies is a fundamental argument for paid
maternity leave. While income support measures may be designed to achieve
a variety of outcomes, the need to ensure that women can afford to spend
the first weeks of a child's life recovering from the birth and nurturing
the baby requires a measure designed to provide this. The 14 weeks leave
recommended by the International Labour Organization and the 16 weeks
leave recommended by the World Health Organization are premised on this
argument. [1]
Recovery from childbirth
and maternal health
Recovery from childbirth
will vary according to a woman's individual experience. A number of
studies cited in A Time to Value confirm that post partum recovery
takes time and rest. Sleep deprivation is also experienced by adoptive
parents since many adopted children suffer sleeping problems.
A recent (1997)
study of women in the ACT found that exhaustion and backache were the
most common health complaints amongst new mothers, not surprisingly,
but other problems included bowel disorders, haemorrhoids, perineal
pain, excessive or prolonged bleeding, urinary incontinence, other urinary
tract problems and mastitis. The study found as time passed, more time
off work was associated with better health outcomes. Clinical depression
rates also fall over the first twenty-four weeks after confinement.
The compounding effects of Caesarian section births, which are expected
to rise with the increasing number of women over the age of thirty five
giving birth further support the need for a period of paid leave.
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is
well recognised medically as of major benefit to the health of the child
in addition to its importance for parent-child bonding. The World Health
Organization, Australian Government publications and community and professional
groups in Australia, including the AMA, advocate breastfeeding as an
important contributor to infant health, including improved growth, immunity
and development. In addition to this it is of some health benefit to
the woman herself. However breastfeeding rates in Australia have leveled
off over the last decade, especially in lower socio-economic groups.
Bottle-fed babies are significantly more likely to be hospitalised than
breastfed babies, suffer more health problems and are 12-31 per cent
more likely to suffer chronic illness when fed by formula for at least
three months. Paid maternity leave is likely to extend the length of
time for which mothers are able to feed.
Child bonding and development
Medical and child
development professionals agree that attachment in the early weeks after
birth is essential to the child's overall capacity for emotional bonding
and cognitive development. During the first few weeks mimicry, symbiosis,
breastfeeding, a familiar heart-beat and voice, the health and contentment
of the mother all contribute significantly to the child's development.
1.
Health aspects of maternity leave and maternity protection are discussed
in a statement by the World Health Organization to the International
Labour Conference 2 June 2000
; Maternity Protection Convention 2000 (No. 183) and Maternity
Protection Recommendation 2000 (No. 191).