For all those campaigning for an extension to maternity leave - public consultation info!

[FeedTheFish]

This doesn't affect me personally and I know there have been threads discussing this topic this already but I didn't want anyone to miss this. Here's a chance to join in with a public consultation and share your views with parliament:

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1129288250803626&id=183432182055909

I can't seem to copy the text directly but please see attached screenshot with details.

What's the premise? Just because we've not been able to go to baby yoga maternity leave needs extending?

It’s just so entitled.

🙄 no

I must admit I'm torn on this one. Yes, for a lot of people I'd agree and say this is a 'nice to have' but absolutely not necessary. However, I also remember when my eldest was a baby meeting mums at our local children's centre who were struggling and desperately needed that regular contact with health visitors and other parents to build up a support network and get practical parenting and MH help. I think it's those mums who aren't at all in any 'entitled brigade' and are just quietly struggling that really probably would benefit from this and I do worry about how they're coping right now while we're in lockdown.

No won't be signing this, maternity leave is to spend time yourself with your baby, most people only spend 1-2 hours s week at a mother baby group, lockdown has been about 6 weeks so people may have missed 6-7 sessions of a group, how that justifies another 3 months SMP I don't know, despite what some doom mongers say we will not be in lockdown for the whole period of anyone's maternity leave

On one hand mumsnet goes wild for demanding people stay away from new mums to give them special family time without interruption...now a petition to extend maternity leave and have it paid.
Plenty of people put kids into daycare where they have no idea who it is looking after them, suddenly lots of people are claiming granny needs to bond.
I'm just not seeing this as a good investment.
Plenty of people have actually had more time as a family.
Not saying this is ideal but who will pick up the tab for this?

I’m due to give birth any day now... however I don’t think this is really necessary. It makes sense for people who are due to return to work in the next month or so and have not been able to visit childcare options and may need a bit longer to sort the logistics of returning to work.... but not really for people like me who have just had “a bit of a rubbish time”.

Don't get why MN is so angry about this.

Taking unpaid leave is shit can no one get their head around that?

MN does seem dominated by women with high earning husbands

This is all so unnecessary

And tbh if you don’t want to go back so quickly take unpaid leave - most employers will bite your hand off at the moment if you offer to save them cash.

@TeacupDrama I don't necessarily disagree. I guess a lot depends on how long this goes on for too and unfortunately none of us have a crystal ball so who knows!

The link wasn't to the petition, btw. It's literally just a House of Commons online platform so people can discuss this issue and share their views either way, which I think is a positive thing.

I don't really understand the need for this.

Some new mothers won't have been able to access baby yoga or whatever classes for many reasons. Are we now saying that the time they did spend with their baby was defective in some way?

Some areas don't have many options for socialising, some mothers have other children who can't attend alongside them so can't go, some mothers have health issues meaning they cannot go. They aren't calling out for extensions.

Nope.

I think the main issue is, you’re not going to get that time back from when they were tiny. Mums with PND aren’t going to magically recover because they get 12 extra weeks when their baby is 9-12 months. The experience is completely different.

I sympathise with those who have missed out and agree that for some women it’s more complex than just missing out on drinking coffee and going to Baby yoga; but I don’t think extending maternity leave is going to fix what was missing.

Nope. And nope again.

My toddler has been missing all the toddlers groups shall I get three months off too. It's grabby they got exactly the amount of time off they were promised . No one is doing things they want right now. They aren't special .

I felt paid maternity leave should be longer before the pandemic. If it's being suggested as temporary only I'm not interested

I'm torn on this too. A rarity, I usually have very strong opinions on everything 😅.
I used my maternity to 'network' with the people who I would be going through the system with, schools, nursery's, potential child minders etc.
I used it to access weighing clinics, lots of drs appointments for the usual baby drama.
I do see how this time has been wasted on the networking front.....but, is it in the public interest to fund extra time for this?
If you do get paid extra leave, are you then expected to 'use' it in a certain way? Will you be frowned at for staying at home when you should be out making the most of your maternity?

Nope. Someone has to pay for it. There isn't a bottomless pit of money.

I have a great bond with my eldest and I had three months maternity leave with him! (Three months was far too short though). This petition is just ridiculous.

Grabby cunts! Maternity leave is for them to recover from the birth and bond with their baby. They can do this in lockdown. If they cant get childcare because of lockdown, they will have to take unpaid leave and tighten their belts.

Load of rubbish. The public purse is hardly bulging is it.
And as someone that had started with PND, going back to work when dd was 3 months old (not through choice) saved my mental health. Extra baby groups wouldn’t have helped me.

Outrageous in its level of entitledness to even suggest this. People really show you who they are in a crisis.

I think this isn't a good idea, but maybe a compromise might be that if a woman is going back full time, then where possible she should be allowed one or two half-day of flexibility per week for X weeks (where X is the duration of the lockdown period) in order to attend some classes or groups like this. not 7 days a week of additional leave. The vast majority of the purposes of maternity leave (time for physical recovery from the birth, time for bonding between mum and baby, time to allow for breastfeeding in at least the first 6 months and then gradual introduction of solids) are not disrupted by lockdown at all.

Hang on. We’ve been on lockdown for 6/7 weeks? So what have they missed out on for the other 49 weeks leave they’ve had or are entitled to?