Paid Maternity Leave and Why We Need It

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The circle of life begins with the creation of a precious baby.

It takes an arduous nine-month period to bring this little human being to life, yet many working moms in the U.S. spend little to no time with their newborn before heading back to work.

Can you imagine the pain a mom must have felt when she hands over her fragile baby into somebody else’s care immediately after giving birth?

Even more so, this baby must experience similar distress when all of a sudden her mom’s presence, her heartbeat, her warmth disappeared.

Additionally, breastfeeding (which is one of the most important bonding moment and offers superb nutritional benefits for babies) becomes increasing difficult to continue and persevere after going back to work.

In fact, returning to work is one of the top reasons for why moms had to stop breastfeeding early since breastfeeding (including breast milk pumping) is a time and energy consuming process.

In order for the body to produce milk in the beginning, moms are required to breastfeed or pump around the clock including waking up throughout the night. It is especially important during the postpartum period as it’s the gateway for the body to produce and regulate milk supply.

Needless to say, this is not an easy task for those who must return to work immediately. Sadly, though, this is the case for many moms due to a lack of paid maternity leave policy in the U.S.

Maternity Leave Around the World

I was quite lucky to be an expat living in one of the countries that provides paid maternity leave. Had I lived in the U.S. when I gave birth, I would have received zero mandated maternity leave, unless my company is “generous.”

I’m so shocked by this revelation because how can each and every one of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries had a mandated maternity leave policy except for the U.S.?

Let’s take a look at the paid maternity leave data provided by OECD.org in 2017:

Most of the countries on this list are European countries. On average, European countries provide 21.8 weeks of paid maternity leave while all of the OECD countries combined provide 18 weeks. Notice how the U.S. is on the bottom of the list.

Although it’s important to note that many large companies in the U.S. do provide paid maternity leave to full-time employees, this is not a requirement by the government. This means that a segment of pregnant women will be without an income during and after delivery.

As an American citizen living in Switzerland, I’m sad to learn that my country does not support moms in the workforce.

I was lucky to have my first baby in Switzerland, because not only did I receive 16 weeks of company maternity leave, I also got paid 100% of my salary covered during those time by my employer and the Swiss canton .

And even if I became unemployed, I would still have received the mandated maternity leave of 14 weeks with 56.4% of my salary paid. This may not sound like much comparing to most other OECD countries, but it’s still far ahead of the U.S. without any mandated paid maternity leave.

What A Baby Needs

As a first time mother, I experienced the joy and challenges of a newborn exacerbated by the lack of experience to take care of one.

Pregnancy was one of the most tiring event that I endured yet it was inconsequential comparing to the “4th trimester” after my baby’s birth.

Though she is the most precious thing that could happen to me, Baby Bear was also a nightmare during her first three months due to colic where she can cry for hours and hours.

It was through this experience that I realize just how fragile she was and how much she needed me. Every time my husband or my mom held her, it was somehow not the same and she would cry endlessly until I take her in my arms.

I can certainly understand how much she needs me since for the entire nine months, she had lived in my belly and was used to my warmth and the beat of my heart.

How could she be calm with someone else other than her own mother’s care at such a tender age?

During those first three months of her life, I was basically her lifeline. I saw such a transformative change as she becomes much more happier and secured knowing that I was always with her.

Even as a baby, she was fully aware of my presence. If she doesn’t see me around, she would cry her eyes out and it could be the most heartbreaking sound ever.

Even though losing one full paycheck was not ideal, I just couldn’t imagine leaving her at such a fragile period. This is what motivated me to start this blog. I want to look for side income opportunities that can offset the need of a full-time job so that I can gain more flexibility.

Impact On Society

Many times, money seems to be the main driving factor for how long a parent or parents choose to work. (I use the term ‘choose’ loosely as I’m sure most of us don’t have that choice of deciding to work or not.)

In a high standard of living country like Switzerland, for example, it’s not uncommon for a household to have a part-time working parent or stay at home parent. That’s because many households can live with one income or a second reduced income.

In the U.S., on the other hand, dual income households are the norm as one income just doesn’t seem to be enough. This is nonetheless magnified for those who are single parents.

But how can such a disparity occur when both the U.S. and Switzerland are amongst the highest income earning countries in the world?

In terms of maternity policy, Switzerland offers 14 weeks of paid leave while the U.S. offers none. Although over the years many politicians have danced around the subject of an atrocious non-existent paid parental leave policy, nothing seems to really progress or get done.

As a result, parenthood seems to be taken much lightly in the U.S. where moms are expected to return to work immediately upon giving birth and having insufficient time to spend with a newborn became a fact of life.

Needless to say, the lack of paid maternity leave policy can have a negative effect on a mom’s (and consequently, her partner’s) mental health, and thus creates a damaging cost to society.

Many pregnant women in the U.S., for example, must decide and plan for when to take leaves since taking days off before delivery counts as maternity leave. If the company does not offer paid leave, then the mom must tap into her holidays to maintain her income.

In Switzerland, on the other hand, the paid maternity leave policy does not take effect until the day of the actual delivery. Any days taken prior to delivery will be covered by insurance as sick leave.

This small nuance could change everything because many American pregnant women work till their final week just because they don’t want to start using their holidays prior to delivery in order to save up more (paid) time to be with their newborn.

Unfortunately, this level of stress could cause a mom to deliver prematurely which seems to become more and more prevalent in the U.S. today.

According to the United Nation, the number of premature babies are on the rise affecting mostly poorer families. Alarmingly, the U.S. is among the top ten countries with the greatest number of preterm births next to Pakistan, Nigeria, China, and India.

This is unnerving since the U.S. is part of the OECD countries (i.e. high income countries) but in terms of preterm rate, it is comparable to lower income countries.

I could only deduce that mothers in the U.S., especially those working, may be more stressed out due to higher demand in the workplace with a lower societal support. This is attributed to my own experience having worked in both the U.S. and in Switzerland where American moms seem to exude more anxiety than those of the Swiss.

Although there may not be a definitive correlation between financial worries and preterm births, I do know that preterm births usually cause kids to become more agitated adults. In addition, moms who exhibit constant stress during pregnancy tend to pass on their anxiety to the baby.

Given that the U.S. provides zero day of paid maternity leave, I can only presuppose that this could be a probable cause of anxiety for moms and thus affecting those around them especially their little ones.

If only we could catch up to the OCED countries in terms of paid maternity leave policy and simultaneously reduce preterm birth rates, I’m sure we can build a happier, more healthier society.

Do you think paid maternity leave is an important aspect in building a better society? What do you think about the U.S.’s lack of paid maternity leave policy? Do you think having higher anxiety due to financial worries could inadvertently lead to preterm birth?

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