Aim: Preterm birth and low birthweight (LBW) lead to infant morbidity and mortality. The causes are unknown. This study evaluates the association between duration of maternity leave and birth ...outcomes at country level. Method: We compiled data on duration of maternity leave for 180 countries of which 36 specified prenatal leave, 190 specified income, 183 specified preterm birth rates and 185 specified the LBW rate. Multivariate and seemingly unrelated regression analyses were done in STATA. Results: Mean maternity leave duration was 15.4 weeks (SD=7.7; range 4–52 weeks). One additional week of maternity leave was associated with a 0.09% lower preterm rate (95% confidence interval CI –0.15 to −0.04) adjusting for income and being an African country. An additional week of maternity leave was associated with a 0.14% lower rate of LBW (95% CI –0.24 to −0.05). Mean prenatal maternity leave across 36 countries was six weeks (SD=2.7; range 2–14 weeks). One week of prenatal maternity leave was associated with a 0.07% lower preterm rate (95% CI –0.10 to 0.24) and a 0.06% lower rate of LBW (95% CI –0.14 to 0.27), but these results were not statistically significant. By adjusting for income status categories, the preterm birth rate was 1.53% higher and the LBW rate was 2.17% higher in Africa compared to the rest of the world. Conclusions: Maternity leave duration is significantly associated with birth outcomes. However, the association was not significant among 36 countries that specified prenatal maternity leave. Studies are needed to evaluate the correlation between prenatal leave and birth outcomes.
Objective
Data on the physical and mental health benefits of paid maternity leave for mothers and infants is abundant. Data on the make-up of current maternity leave policies in US psychiatry ...residency programs is not. This survey of program directors was undertaken to assess the components of their program’s policies and the perceived impact of maternity leave on the training of childbearing residents, co-residents, and programs.
Methods
An anonymous 19-question survey was emailed to US psychiatric residency program directors. Questions assessed demographics for respondents and their programs, composition of maternity leave including paid and unpaid components, and the perception of effects of maternity leave on childbearing residents, co-residents, and programs (with optional free-text elaboration).
Results
The response rate was 19.5% (49 out of 262 program directors). Many programs require the use of FMLA (81%), vacation days (75%), sick days (75%), and short-term disability (30%) for maternity leave. Around a third (34%) offer separate paid time off varying from 2 to 12 weeks at 80–100% of pay. Most respondents relate a neutral to strongly positive impact of leave on the psychiatric training of childbearing residents (98%) and co-residents (84%), citing benefits like improved empathy, compassion, and patience.
Conclusions
Maternity leave is seen to have minimal negative impact on training received within psychiatry residency programs. A minority of residents have access to paid maternity leave policies that would best support their health and career trajectories.
Objectives
The United States is one of only three countries worldwide with no national policy guaranteeing paid leave to employed women who give birth. While maternity leave has been linked to ...improved maternal and child outcomes in international contexts, up-to-date research evidence in the U.S. context is needed to inform current policy debates on paid family leave.
Methods
Using data from
Listening to Mothers III
, a national survey of women ages 18–45 who gave birth in 2011–2012, we conducted multivariate logistic regression to predict the likelihood of outcomes related to infant health, maternal physical and mental health, and maternal health behaviors by the use and duration of paid maternity leave.
Results
Use of paid and unpaid leave varied significantly by race/ethnicity and household income. Women who took paid maternity leave experienced a 47% decrease in the odds of re-hospitalizing their infants (95% CI 0.3, 1.0) and a 51% decrease in the odds of being re-hospitalized themselves (95% CI 0.3, 0.9) at 21 months postpartum, compared to women taking unpaid or no leave. They also had 1.8 times the odds of doing well with exercise (95% CI 1.1, 3.0) and stress management (95% CI 1.1, 2.8), compared to women taking only unpaid leave.
Conclusions for Practice
Paid maternity leave significantly predicts lower odds of maternal and infant re-hospitalization and higher odds of doing well with exercise and stress management. Policies aimed at expanding access to paid maternity and family leave may contribute toward reducing socio-demographic disparities in paid leave use and its associated health benefits.
Context: Policies legislating paid leave from work for new parents, and to attend to individual and family illness, are common across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ...countries. However, there exists no comprehensive review of their potential impacts on economic, social, and health outcomes. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature on paid leave and socioeconomic and health outcomes. We reviewed 5,538 abstracts and selected 85 published papers on the impact of parental leave policies, 22 papers on the impact of medical leave policies, and 2 papers that evaluated both types of policies. We synthesized the main findings through a narrative description; a meta-analysis was precluded by heterogeneity in policy attributes, policy changes, outcomes, and study designs. Findings: We were able to draw several conclusions about the impact of parental leave policies. First, extensions in the duration of paid parental leave to between 6 and 12 months were accompanied by attendant increases in leave-taking and longer durations of leave. Second, there was little evidence that extending the duration of paid leave had negative employment or economic consequences. Third, unpaid leave does not appear to confer the same benefits as paid leave. Fourth, from a population health perspective, increases in paid parental leave were consistently associated with better infant and child health, particularly in terms of lower mortality rates. Fifth, paid paternal leave policies of adequate length and generosity have induced fathers to take additional time off from work following the birth of a child. How medical leave policies for personal or family illness influence health has not been widely studied. Conclusions: There is substantial quasi-experimental evidence to support expansions in the duration of job-protected paid parental leave as an instrument for supporting women's labor force participation, safeguarding women's incomes and earnings, and improving child survival. This has implications, in particular, for countries that offer shorter durations of job-protected paid leave or lack a national paid leave entitlement altogether.
Previous studies have shown a high level of noncompliance with recommendations on breastfeeding duration, especially in France. The objective was to describe the association between breastfeeding ...initiation and duration and the statutory duration of postnatal maternity leave, the gap between the end of legal maternity leave and the mother's return to work, and maternal working time during the first year post‐partum. Analyses were based on 8,009 infants from the French nationwide ELFE cohort. We assessed the association with breastfeeding initiation by using logistic regression and, among breastfeeding women, with categories of breastfeeding duration by using multinomial logistic regression. Among primiparous women, both postponing return to work for at least 3 weeks after statutory postnatal maternity leave (as compared with returning to work at the end of the statutory period) and working less than full‐time at 1 year post‐partum (as compared with full‐time) were related to higher prevalence of breastfeeding initiation. Among women giving birth to their first or second child, postponing the return to work until at least 15 weeks was related to a higher prevalence of long breastfeeding duration (at least 6 months) as compared with intermediate duration (3 to <6 months). Working part‐time was also positively related to breastfeeding duration. Among women giving birth to their third child or more, working characteristics were less strongly related to breastfeeding duration. These results support extending maternity leave or working time arrangements to encourage initiation and longer duration of breastfeeding.
Background:
Investing in maternity protection for working women is an important social equity mechanism. Addressing the maternity leave needs of women employed in the informal sector economy should ...be a priority as more than half of women in Latin America, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa are employed in this sector.
Objective:
To develop a costing methodology framework to assess the financial feasibility, at the national level, of implementing a maternity cash transfer for informally employed women.
Methods:
A World Bank costing methodology was adapted for estimating the financial need to establish a maternity cash transfer benefit. The methodology estimates the cash transfer’s unitary cost, the incremental coverage of the policy in terms of time, the weighted population to be covered, and the administrative costs. The 6-step methodology uses employment and sociodemographic data that are available in many countries through employment and demographic surveys and the population census. The methodology was tested with data for Mexico assuming different cash transfer unitary costs and the benefit’s time coverage.
Results:
The methodological framework estimated that the annual financial needs of setting up a maternity cash transfer for informally working women in Mexico ranges between US$87 million and US$280 million.
Conclusions:
A pragmatic methodology for assessing the costs of maternity cash transfer for informally employed women was developed. In the case of Mexico, the maternity cash transfer for women in the informal sector is financially feasible.
Despite the growing population of surgeons who will spend the bulk of their potential childbearing years in medical school, training, or early in practice, the stigma associated with pregnancy ...remains. The challenges of childbearing for surgeons also extend to the pregnancy experience from a health perspective including increased rates of infertility, miscarriage, and preterm labor. Given the unique demands of a surgical practice, surgeons may experience pressure to minimize the disruption of their work during and after pregnancy. This may include attempts at carrying a full workload until the day of delivery, reducing the length of planned parental leave, and not requesting accommodations for time to express milk. Concern for discrimination, clinical productivity expectations, and promotion timelines can limit a surgeon's ability to receive pregnancy-related support and adequate parental leave. Though not all surgeons will choose to pursue pregnancy, we must still acknowledge the need to support these individuals. Furthermore, this support should not be limited to the pregnancy alone but include postpartum support including that related to family leave and lactation. Here, we provide an overview of just some of the challenges faced by surgeons in the pursuit of parenthood and present the arguments for accommodations related to pregnancy, parental leave, and lactation.
Temporal focus on past, present, and future of contributions to work is critical to understanding how employees and their line managers navigate career disruptions and minimize their potential for ...negative impact. This paper reframes temporal focus using a dyadic, relational perspective to explore how temporal focus (in)congruence shapes resocialization experiences for returners and their line managers following maternity leave disruption. Our qualitative study draws on 54 interviews across 27 organizations and demonstrates that a congruent, broader temporal focus—that embraces the past, present, and future—is associated with more positive relational and career outcomes than an incongruent focus, where one dyadic partner holds a narrow temporal focus. Our findings explicate how the adoption of a broad versus narrow temporal focus creates a perception of maternity leave as either a brief interlude or a major disruption. A congruent, broader temporal focus allows returners and their line managers to reduce their reliance on typical motherhood biases and instead, consider the woman’s past, present, and potential future contributions over the course of her career. We highlight the importance of temporal focus congruence at a dyadic level and the value of adopting a broader temporal focus on careers while offering new insights regarding the temporal dynamics inherent to maternity leave transitions for both returners and their managers.
Purpose
Working mothers are at greater risk for postpartum depression. Maternity leave characteristics, including length, wage replacement and employment protection, could have relevant implications ...for mothers’ mental health. We propose to explore whether there is an association between maternity leave characteristics and postpartum depression.
Methods
We conducted a systematic review searching for randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental, cohort or cross-sectional studies on five databases using search terms including maternity and parental leave and depression, as well as references in relevant articles. We identified 500 articles and included 23 of those. We used the EPHPP Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies to assess the quality of the studies.
Results
Paid and longer maternity leaves tend to be associated with a reduction of postpartum depression symptoms in high-income countries. No studies explored the association between employment protection and postpartum depression. The quality of studies ranged from strong to weak, mostly influenced by study design.
Conclusion
More restrictive maternity leave policies tend to be associated with higher rates of postpartum depression, although more research needs to be conducted in the Global South.
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