"Me-Ternity Leave" has anyone seen this?

[GiraffeObsessedBaby]

Just come across this, I didn't see the show but will be having a look after my DSs bath time.

Is this for real? Am I alone in thinking what the actual fuckity fuck?!

https://m.facebook.com/loosewomen/photos/a.166231134878/10157440690599879/?type=3&source=57&tnn=EH-R

UnderMajorDomoMinor

No we didn’t. We were quite happy to facilitate where we could with a few small exceptions (such as at certain points of projects etc).

It made me think of this, which is bloody brilliant:
www.huffingtonpost.ca/elizabeth-bromstein/maternity-leave-without-kids_b_9811462.html

I know what shared parental leave is
I asked whether this asinine poll was talking about men taking 'meternity' leave as described in the link

@KatnissK

"Mummy privilege". FFS. As usual, women made to feel guilty AGAIN over things that they should be supported in. Whoever thinks maternity leave is used for hobbies and frivolity needs to read some of the threads on here about traumatic births, the struggles of breastfeeding, how to cope with sleep deprivation....I mean really?!

It takes a long time to recover from pregnancy / birth/ newborn days. My DH used to call going to work a "break" when I was on mat leave because caring for a small baby is hard fucking work. And yes, we choose to, but what's the alternative? We all choose NOT to and no babies are born? Or we all choose to give up our jobs and sign up for benefits and council housing instead? Would that make people happier? Thought not.

People are so fucking stupid sometimes it blows my mind. Also, not only do I disagree with this bollocks but I also think maternity leave should be extended so women aren't forced to work to their due date with hyperemesis, SPD, hypertension (as I did with all 3 of these) and any other complication that hits them for fear of not having enough time off once baby has arrived. So there. Rant over.

Thanks Kat. Saved me a job and a lot of typing! Brilliant post! And I agree with every word!

Maternity leave SHOULD be extended. Women should be able to start it at 6 months pregnant. And not return til the baby is a year old. (And the father of the baby should get a couple of months paid paternity leave to help the new mum, and because he will be sleep deprived too.)

In the mid 1990's when I had mine, I had to work til I was 37 weeks pregnant, and then go back when they were 12 weeks old, because we were only allowed 16 weeks maternity leave at the time!

I was so not ready to go back to work only 12 weeks after giving birth, and I cried every night during the 2 to 3 weeks leading up to going back.

In addition, I felt so rough and uncomfortable and ill during the last month or so at work, but just got shut down (by the managers and women who had never had kids) with 'you're only pregnant, not ill.' Cunts.

I think it’s a great idea!! I loved mat leave and loved the break away from the daily grind. Can’t see why child free women shouldn’t get a wee break too!

Chrysalis, that's just what the (incidentally male) midwife used to say when I was expecting DS2. He saw women really struggling to carry on working while pregnant so as not to lose out on time with the baby afterwards. As for maternity leave being about hobbies and travelling. I always have a hollow laugh when I read someone on the internet, pregnant with DC1 and planning to renovate the house, trek the Great Wall of China, publish their first novel and learn Esperanto. Haha. And I say that as someone who found the newborn stage ok.

Sorry @DrCoconut what did the male midwife say? That women should finish at 6 months pregnant and not work to virtually their due date?

Or that you are pregnant not ill?

And yeah, I also laugh when anyone thinks - or suggests that maternity leave is a holiday, and they can do loads of stuff they never did when working. Ha ha, good luck with that!!!

So what about men?

No, no, loveskaka, we're playing Divide and Conquer here! Leave the men out of it, the point is to pit women against each other!

Chrysalis. He believed that women should have the option of taking more maternity leave rather than struggling to work while heavily pregnant. We were discussing my plans for maternity leave during an appointment and I mentioned that stopping too early would mean going back when the baby was very small.

They are making the wrong argument. It used to be that academics could have sabbatical to pursue research etc. Local authority used to fund courses, or give unpaid leave so you could come back after travel, study etc, open to all. Quite obvious maternity leave is about baby needs, not holiday for parents.

not having children isn’t always a choice

I loved mat leave and loved the break away from the daily grind. Can’t see why child free women shouldn’t get a wee break too!

Couldn’t have kids, never got the chance to take maternity leave, but I was looking forward to having some time out of the workplace. I’m sure a lot of women do. I’m not against paid maternity leave but I can’t see why everyone shouldn’t have the right to a paid sabbatical.

What a load of fucking shite. A year off to raise, sustain and bond with your baby is not the same as just having a year off! It’s fucking hard work!! In the early weeks I was lucky to have got chance to brush my teeth... let alone do anything else!

I got statutory pay if that makes any difference...

I feel the need to preface this by reiterating I think sabbaticals should be more widely acceptable.

Thing is with ‘meternity’ or any other twitter friendly term you want to employ, it will never be workable as a direct comparison.

I have one child so had one lot. Janet who sits next to me has three children so gets three. Does that mean I’m entitled to two more lots of meternitywhotsitcompletebollockery?

@DrCoconut

Thank you. And I agree.

This just makes women look fucking stupid and not serious. well said, you have just summed up Loose Women in general perfectly.

I personally think that people who get a new cat should get Caternity Leave 😸

@ethelfeda brushing your teeth can be done one handed and with an audience, having time to do a number 2 and in private...

Okay I'll bite - nibble.

I'm childless (not through choice) and now in my mid-fifties. I have worked without any kind of break (apart from AL) for nigh-on 40 years (even DH had a year out in his 20s). I've never worked anywhere that offered a sabbatical, paid or otherwise. Who has? (Apart from some Aussie friends who've qualified for Long Service Leave)

I'm not stupid, I know Mat Leave isn't Easy Street and I do think it should be fully paid for a year. I also wouldn't advocate any kind of paid time off for non-parents. But a tiny part of my resentment at being infertile has been the relentlessness of working, i.e. being employed. It's only now as I see retirement on the horizon that I feel there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes it's felt like a prison sentence.

I think a six month sabbatical in my 30s or 40s, even unpaid, not being "owned" by an employer, would have been incredibly emotionally restorative.

This is ridiculous. So should people who haven’t had any deaths in the family ie compassionate leave, have s few days for me time too, just to you know, keep things even?

Charlotte
I've had one baby, 10 months off, and that's all I'll have in probably 46+ years of working. If you want a sabbatical then make it happen! You could have taken a break between jobs if you wanted to, and saved accordingly.
Maternity leave isn't a sabbatical. It's hard work, and it's necessary to ensure the continuation of the species.
Sabbaticals are a choice. Maybe a difficult financial choice but so is a baby!

Learning a language.

Just speaking be owns a challenge 🙄

Becomes a challenge, obv

I’m not against paid maternity leave but I can’t see why everyone shouldn’t have the right to a paid sabbatical.

Who the fuck, is paying for this?

Do you realise most companies don't pay maternity leave. You get SMP or a massive £130 per week for 39 weeks. Enhanced mat pay for a certain period if you are lucky.

Why should sabbatical be paid?

Mat leave serves a purpose, especially in keeping women in the work place. But it's not cheap or easy, financially.

You want a sabbatical, go find a company that offers them and do it. Or save up leave your job, take a year out, then find something else. Woman CAN choose to do this.

I bet a sabbatical doesn't damage your career as much as mat leave does.

DontCallMeCharlotte

By the time i retire I will have been in non stop work for 47 years. Whats your point?

You could have CHOSEN to save up and take a break from work.