The Lagos Paternity And Maternity Leave Policy

By Bilikis Bakare

Maternity leave, often called parental or family leave, is the time a mother or father takes time off work for the birth or adoption of a child. It is an employee benefit available in almost all countries that provide paid time off work to care for a child. But in a handful of countries, parental leave provides only unpaid time off work. The duration of this leave varies from country to country, for instance in the United Kingdom, maternity leave is 52 weeks, while paternity leave is two weeks in the first eight weeks after birth, or up to 26 weeks if the mother returns to work before the end of her leave period.

In the United States, maternity leave is 12 weeks, while paternity leave is dependent upon the employer, while in Russia the leave is 140 days, while paternity leave is non-existent. And in South Africa, maternity leave is four months, and like in Russia, paternity leave is non-existent. In Nigeria, before now, according to the Nigerian Labour Law, women in Government or private sector employment were entitled to 12 weeks maternity leave with full pay irrespective of their status and the number of babies previously delivered. But recently, the duration of maternity leave for federal public servants has been increased as women in the Federal Public Service are now entitled to 16 weeks maternity leave with full pay.

It is, however, yet to apply in the private sector because the National Assembly is yet to pass the Labour Standards Bill which includes the 16-week maternity leave for women. The draft bill which contained consensus reached on a number of work place issues recommended 16 weeks maternity leave for women with multiple births who are engaged in the private sector .But the Federal Government’s 16 weeks maternity leave is for all female federal employees irrespective of their marital status and the number of babies delivered.

As a way of encouraging good parenting among its workforce, the Lagos State Government recently took a giant leap by extending the maternity leave of its female employees by three months bringing it to a total of six months, to enable them give the required attention to their new born babies in their first few months of life. The policy is in line with the State’s policy of exclusive breast feeding for the first six months of a baby’s life as it has been established that breast milk contains the right balance of nutrients to help infant grow into a strong and healthy toddler. Colostrum, the yellowish, sticky breast milk produced after the delivery of a baby and the end of pregnancy is recommended by the [WHO] as the perfect food for the newborn. It is very nutritious and contains substances that fight infection although it is a common practice among some mothers to express this very nutritious milk with the belief that it is dirty due to its colour.

It is expected that breast-feeding should commence in the first hour after birth and thereafter frequent sucking by baby to increase milk production should be encouraged. And since it is readily available and affordable, it is the belief that  all mothers can breast-feed except in cases of  ill health and defects like inverted, flat or pierced nipples which could make breast-feeding difficult. But with recommendations of obstetricians and paediatricians adopted methods for breast-feeding can be worked out which could be in form of expressing the breast milk into a cup through the use of a specially made breast pump

 From the foregoing, it is important that babies are breast-fed exclusively for a period of six months and subsequently appropriate complementary foods should be introduced up to two years of age and beyond. It should be noted that in the olden days Africa when most mothers work in the home and some were mostly housewives, children were breast-fed for a period of three years. It was the belief that this would enable mothers takes proper care of their babies and recoup well from the stress of child birth before resuming work so that both the mother and the child would have been strong enough to withstand the expected temporary separations that would be witnessed when the mother goes back to work.

Also, and for the first time in the country, the Lagos State Government has granted a 10- Working Days Paternity Leave for male employees who may want to join their wives to achieve good parenting. However, both the extension of maternity and the 10- day paternity leaves would apply only for the first two births of the couple after which the female employees revert to the old three months while the male employee ceases to enjoy such privilege. Medically, encouraging maternity leave during the last month of pregnancy and well into the postpartum period according to researches may foster better outcomes for mother and child alike. Women who took leave in the ninth month of pregnancy were 73% less likely to have a caesarian section than those who worked up to delivery and also those mothers who returned to work shortly after delivery were significantly less likely to establish breast-feeding within the first month.

 It is also pertinent to note that maternity and paternity leaves are geared towards increasing the attention of parents to the basic developmental needs of their infants especially during the first six months, which medical science has proved to play very great role in the physical, mental and emotional development of a child. And by extending maternity leave duration to six months, it would prevent career nursing mothers from leaving their children in the hands of day-care nannies

In addition, at six months (24 weeks), a baby is considered strong enough to be left in a decent crèche for proper care, having gone through close affection and nurturing by the mother for those very important and delicate first few months of his/her life. Hopefully, this laudable gesture by the Lagos State Government would be reciprocated  by mothers and fathers  by nurturing their newborns to become  healthy and prospective nation builders.

•Bakare is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.