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In many countries women are allowed to take maternity leave from their jobs

游客2025-02-18  8
问题     In many countries women are allowed to take maternity leave from their jobs during the first months after the birth of their baby. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? (2016-02-27)
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答案     Maternity leave from jobs has been introduced in many countries as a way of improving the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies.
    Childbirth can be dangerous, and in years past many women died in childbirth or suffered complications and died soon afterwards. Many babies also failed to survive. One way to improve the situation is to allow maternity leave; in some countries it is a statutory right.
    Towards the end of pregnancy, women often feel very tired and they may suffer high blood pressure, swollen ankles and so on, the result of carrying extra weight. Clearly, many would find it difficult to work, and, in any case, ample rest is recommended. The birth itself can take a varied amount of time, during which normal work is not possible. Then comes the period after birth, when the woman has to recover not only from the birth itself, but may have to cope with stitching, the aftermath of delivery by caesarean section and so on, which can take several weeks to overcome. Most doctors agree that breastfeeding is best for both mother and baby, and this is very difficult if the mother has to work outside the home.
    Taking maternity leave helps the mother to cope with all these demands, and it helps if it is a statutory right with pay available.
    However, such leave can be a nightmare for employers. It is impossible to know exactly when a baby will be born, unless the mother opts for an elective caesarean, which professional women increasingly opt for so they can plan ahead. Not only is this expensive, but, as with any operation, there is risk. The mother then has to decide how long she wants or needs to take, and because she cannot know how long it will take to recover, she cannot say in advance. The employer then has to find a replacement for an unknown amount of time. Some overcome this by encouraging a year of leave, giving the replacement a worthwhile stretch of work.
    For the employer, there is the inconvenience of losing an employee and having a temporary replacement. For the mother, there is the difficulty that work goes on without her, and getting back into it might prove difficult. Some employers are reluctant to employ, and sometimes promote, young women because of this, and some women lose out because they take time off.
    In some countries, fathers are allowed to share the ’maternity’ or parental leave, but few have chosen to do this, probably because of the disadvantages. On the whole, with goodwill on both sides, maternity leave, especially statutory paid maternity leave, has made a huge difference to the health and wellbeing of mothers, which outweighs the disadvantages.
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