While the length of paternity leave in Spain has increased exponentially in recent years, reaching 16 weeks in 2021 (up from just under two weeks by 2016), maternity leave in those four months has stagnated since 1989. This has led to numerous women’s associations and groups demanding since Years a significant increase in these losses, at least up to 24 weeks. A duration that would be in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for breastfeeding: six months on exclusive feeding and up to two years on complementary feeding.
A systematic review of the relationship between parental leave and mental health, published in The Lancet Public Health this January, supports these claims. Led by researchers from the Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University and the Department of Global Public Health at Karolinska Institutet in Solna, it concludes that longer paid maternity leave protects maternal mental health and extends over years.
“In our comprehensive review, we found that the best maternal mental health outcomes come with the most generous benefits,” explains Sol P. Juárez, professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University and principal investigator on the study. “That means it’s not so much about being able to stay at home without losing your job as it is about being able to stay at home with decent pay and for a long time,” he adds. Specifically, they found that the positive effects on maternal mental health become noticeable after two or three months of benefit: “However, this does not mean that this duration is ideal, as the benefits persist beyond this threshold,” says Juárez.
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The research also assessed the same effects on parental mental health, but found less conclusive results in this case, although as the authors explain, this may be due in large part to the smaller number of studies conducted: “There’s no question It is recognized that the mother experiences significant hormonal, physical and emotional changes associated with pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum which can impact her mental health, but the transition to motherhood/fatherhood is challenging for both partners and for the couple as a whole. According to Juárez, being a parent is a stressful situation associated with job insecurities, economic challenges, taking on new roles (father and mother) and possibly the intensification of other gender roles.
A scientifically proven maxim has been asserted from perinatal psychology and psychiatry for some time: In order to care for and raise a newborn baby sufficiently well and healthy, it needs presence, time and rest. However, this presence, time and rest require some socio-economic conditions that are not always present.
“It is important to be sure that it will be possible to reach the end of the month. This is key to maternal, baby and family health. Economic insecurity is a very important source of stress and discomfort at any stage of life, but especially as a mother, since the changes experienced are oriented toward maternal care, making women particularly vulnerable in the event of economic insecurity,” reflects Ana González Uriarte, psychiatrist and teacher at the European Institute of Perinatal Mental Health, which aims to improve midwifery care for mothers and babies in health care settings. González Uriarte also believes that it is necessary to take into account that every investment made in the first 1,000 days of the baby’s life has a huge economic impact in the short and long term.
In this sense, the research for Juárez suggests that parenting policies should play a fundamental role in public health. “Healthy mothers and fathers are healthy workers and contribute to healthy families. In this sense, the implementation of a generous parenting policy would mean an investment on many levels,” argues the researcher, who recalls that between 10 and 20% of mothers are affected by mental health disorders in the postnatal period.
beyond the time after birth
“Early parenthood goes well beyond the postpartum period and extends to postpartum and breastfeeding as well as the period of exterogenation, the second nine months after birth and pregnancy. It’s not just about the mother’s mental health after birth, but the upbringing that entails in the early stages. All this time needs to be protected,” says Julia Cañero, anthropologist and co-president of the PETRA Maternidades Feministas Association, which she believes this scientific evidence supports her calls for maternity leave to be extended.
“Although the result of this research may seem obvious, this scientific evidence helps us demonstrate what mothers have been saying for a long time. And the fact is that activism is often one step ahead of science,” says Cañero. She believes the most valuable piece of information from the research is that it shows that just not losing a job and having time is not enough, it is just as important that this time is paid to give mothers stability admit. “It’s interesting that the time is so long. The 16 weeks that we currently have are totally insufficient and we defend ample permits, moreover transferable, to allow each family to organize as it pleases, because when the 16 weeks are over many mothers still want to stay with us babies and it It doesn’t do us any good, nothing, that they tell us that our partner will be there, because we are who we want to be there,” reflects the anthropologist.
However, this time must not only be extended, but also paid for, because it gives the mother protection and appreciates the work of raising children: “That is why we at PETRA demand that the permits are universal and can be used by all women, regardless of yours employment status. Currently, many unemployed mothers have the time but not the benefits, leaving them completely vulnerable.”
The psychiatrist Ana González Uriarte also describes the current permits as insufficient, “both for the mother and for the children”. And remember that the mother is the one who experiences the tremendous changes associated with pregnancy, childbirth and the ability to breastfeed her baby: “Therefore, she is the one who needs enough paid leave to recover.” , to move and to be able to bond and raise”. “First, the mother-child dyad needs the support and care of their partner, family, network. Mother and baby should not be alone,” he emphasizes. In this sense, for Uriarte, the father is fundamental as a support and also in the construction of his own specific bond with the child: “But the permission they enjoy should in no way be at the expense of not expanding that of the mothers who That is what happened in Spain”.
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