Oh Baby!

America sucks! Last year my best friend Jessica had postpartum depression. When she told me I was at a lost. I was shock and I didn’t know what to say, however I did what any best friend would do…I listened. She explained to me that she was sad all the time, and felt a shame for leaving her daughter in the hands of a childcare provider. She experience this great bond with her baby, and just twelve weeks later she had to return to work due to finances.

Postpartum depression occurs after a baby is born. Mothers experience mood swings, crying spells, anxiety, depression etc. This can proceed weeks or even months post pregnancy. Post partum depression is a serious illness and should be treated right away.

After hearing what Jessica witnessed, this encouraged me to see what my job offered employees for maternity leave.  It just so happen I ran into a co-worker who was pregnant. She explained to me that she could not take any vacations because she had to use the entire time of her PTO (paid time off) for maternity leave. I thought employees were given twelve weeks of maternity leave with job security. I didn’t know employees had to make sure they had the time in order to go on leave.

Why do we have to go through this? Citizens work hard in this country. Don’t they think we deserve to spend more time with our newborn? It makes me sick to my stomach when I see people returning to work shortly after delivering a baby. I think this country needs to be a little more caring when it comes to this issue.

I would love to experience my baby growing during their first year of life. From the Huffington Post there is a list categorized by countries, of the weeks they provide for maternity leave. The United States gives 12 weeks with only job security. There is no national program, and cash benefit varies state by state. Did you know other countries help with childcare assistance in addition to job security? France allows 16 weeks, but the government allows a family allowance until the child turns 20. Imagine that!

Finland government give mothers a maturity care package that provides the necessity pregnant moms need. On top of that, they give their citizens public childcare up until the child turns seven. If a parent opts out of the childcare program, they will receive paid leave the first three years of their child’s life. It boggles my mind that America thinks it’s easy to pop out a baby and go back to work as if a life-changing event didn’t happen.

Let’s take a look at what other countries do shall we?

Iceland gives mothers and fathers three months for maturity leave, which can be taken by either parent. Awesome Sauce! That’s a total of nine months. Iceland citizens also receive 80 percent of their wages, so parents are not struggling to meet basic needs.

Switzerland gives 14 weeks of maternity leave and pay 80 percent of wages.

 

Germany gives 14 weeks of maternity leave and pay 100 percent of wages. I wouldn’t mind taking that!

Canada gives 17-52 weeks of paid leave, wages are 55 percent for the first 17 weeks and the rest of the wages depends on province.

Get this! Latvia gives 112 days of maternity leave with 100 percent of wages.

Italy gives 5 months of maternity with 80 percent of wages. Woo hoo!

The list goes on and on, but I am sure you get the point.

 

The first year of my newborn, I don’t want to feel guilty to leave them because I have to go back to work. There have been a lot of political debates about maternity leave, and I am curious to see what happens once the next president is in office. For now I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best! Do you think America should give more time for maternity and paternity leave? I know I am not the only one ranting and raving about this issue. What are you thoughts?