I used to be awed by the 3 months leave new moms had at my former workplace. Like 3 whole months away from work? Chale what a life that must be! Then when they returned to work, they had a half-day work day to go home for mommy duties. I was truly awed! Then I had a baby. 🤧
After the first 6 months of being a new Mom I honestly don’t know how Ghanaian new moms have had to deal with the meager 12 weeks maternity leave whilst working in either public and private sectors. As a self-employed woman, it’s been ‘easier’ having to juggle early motherhood with work duties. At the same time, I have often questioned and wondered how employed moms have managed with this insufficient maternity time off. And you know what kills me? There’s no paternity leave in the Ghana Labour Law for new Dads 🙄. Weren’t the men explicitly present during the making of the new family addition? Early parenthood is not a job only for new moms, the men have to rise up to being supportive partners when a child arrives and I’m not just talking about putting money on the table.
It’s most probable that this law was written and passed by men because there’s no way a woman would have supported the passing of such a law.
Maybe I should share my reasons as to why I think this unfair leave period should be re-evaluated immediately so you my reader will have a deeper appreciation of this issue.
The WHO & UNICEF bodies recommend that children must be breastfed within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life. Exclusive breastfeeding is no mean feat for many moms. I did it for 6 months and I can tell you how exhausting, painful and mind-bending it is, if not for the amazing health benefits for baby I would have quit. Even with the expressing of breastmilk to feed baby when a mom is away at work it is still stressful for a Mom to be at work and wondering if baby has been fed by the Nanny or caretaker at home. So if 6 months is the recommended period for exclusive breastfeeding why are Moms not being allowed this period away from their jobs?
After childbirth, a woman’s body needs to heal mentally and physically. I had a CS birth and it took about 6-7 weeks for my body to physically heal from the surgery and even after that I was still mentally not ready to start any form of work. Vaginal childbirth also requires both physical healing from either first or second-degree vaginal tearing as well as mental healing from the screams and agony of pushing a new life out.
Newborns don’t understand the adult version of sleep time. They sleep during the day and decide to play or be awake at night. Every mom’s & dad’s sleep pattern is forever altered for the next one to two years. The mental exhaustion of sleepless nights mostly endured by the Moms more than most Dads can affect productivity at work. I was once so knackered and drowsy that I dropped the baby whilst breastfeeding. God being so wise and good, she was okay 😅. I’ll never forget that night.
Baby brain is a thing. The mental & physical stress from sleepless nights, the female body hormones in total disarray, the constant checking on baby if she’s still breathing in her cot, changing of diapers for the 20th time creates a temporary memory condition called Baby Brain. This often happens during 3rd trimester and continues during the early motherhood stages. My friend told me about hers and I thought it was a joke until I started forgetting basic words and people’s names! I won’t even talk about the days I drove into town with my dress turned inside out, or leaving my phone on top of the car and driving off, or the time I had my hair bonnet on and drove to the pharmacy. Nah! I won’t talk about those times.
New Dads are being robbed of their time with their newborns with the zero paternity days in the Labor law. How is there no provision for new fathers? It’s crucial for men to spend time with their newborns to emotionally bond with them from an early start and also share in the responsibilities of caring for a baby. It’s unfair to leave childcare to a new mom and let her go through all the physical and mental exhaustion of nursing, diaper change, play time and then make sexual and food demands at the end of the day! Women aren’t superhuman.
These are just some of the reasons why I strongly advocate for the increase in maternity & paternity leave for mothers and new dads. It’s a lot they go through!
I know most employers are stiffly against this increment of our maternity leave to six months citing operational costs to argue their case. Corona virus has revealed that remote work is possible in Ghana thus offering more new moms holding managerial, administrative and back office jobs the opportunity to work online on assigned tasks. There’s Zoom calls for team meetings hence no need to struggle with Accra traffic for face-to-face meetings.
Due to the unjust weeks for maternity leave, many new moms are forced to accumulate their annual leave to add to the time off to take care of their newborn. I once saw a heavily pregnant woman at one of the major supermarkets in Osu. She looked ready to pop and my mind was cast back to when I was in her state. The tiredness and heaviness of carrying a full-term baby is buei! This should be a time for her to be resting at home with her feet propped up and eating good meals but for our chisel and unfair maternity leave here she is at post.
Last year the NDC promised to increase maternity leave to 4 months if they won the December elections whilst introducing a 7 day paternity leave. Hurrumph! We can do better than this.
Its however encouraging to see private institutions like Vodafone Ghana demonstrate inclusivity by increasing parental leave to 4 months (both mothers and fathers) , i’m hopeful this would increase to 6 months and more organisations step up to the plate.
I apologise for any typos or misconstructed words as i’m in the last throes of baby brain 😋. Do you also think that our maternity leave in Ghana needs to be reevaluated and provision made for paternity leave? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section, i’d love to engage with you more!