Introduction
A rapidly increasing population in the United States is nothing new. There is nothing special about how often people are getting married and starting families. However, what is gaining popularity is how these families are able to care for one another. More often in today’s society, mothers, and sometimes fathers, are given greater opportunities to care for the newest editions of their families. Companies in the past 34 years have been required to grant new mothers time off, under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, to recover from the stressful time of being pregnant, going through the process of giving birth, and of course, to take care of their newborn baby. Also, the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 touches base on the fact that pregnant women are to be given time off – 12 weeks at least – of unpaid leave.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, gives pregnant women the same rights as others with "medical conditions". This law applies to companies employing 15 or more people. It says:
• Your employer cannot fire you because you are pregnant.
• Your employer cannot force you to take mandatory maternity leave.
• You must be granted the same health, disability, and sickness-leave benefits as any other employee who has a medical condition.
• You must be given modified tasks; alternate assignments, disability leave, or leave without pay (depending on company policy).
• You are allowed to work as long as you can perform your job.
• You are guaranteed job security during your leave.
• During your leave, you continue to accrue seniority and remain eligible for pay increases and benefits.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 applies to companies that employ 50 or more people within a 75-mile radius of the workplace. It states that if an employee has been employed for at least one year by the company he or she now works for, and works at least 25 hours a week, he or she can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in any 12-month period for the birth of his or her baby. All 12 weeks of maternity leave can be taken at the same time or they can be broken up over the course of the year before or after the birth of the baby. Under this law, each employee must be restored to an equivalent position with equal benefits when he or she returns to work. Benefits for Mom There is nothing in this world more satisfying to a new mother than holding her baby for the first time. Even though a large percentage of expecting mothers automatically create a bond with her unborn child, the first physical interaction is usually the strongest situation which a mother-child bond is formed. This is an unbreakable, unconditional vow of love and care (Brunilda, 2012). Once mom gets back to “the real world” mentality, it will hit her that she still has to return to work. However, thanks to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, this is not necessarily the case. Different businesses and industries have different rules where the idea of maternity leave is concerned, but none the less, mothers are given time off to care for her baby. New mothers are prone to stress and stress-related disorders such as Post-Partum Disorder. The most common cause for this stress is when a mother is separated from her newborn. By granting new mothers time off of work with their job guaranteed to them upon their return, it allows the mother to not only recover physically from having a child, but also to spend as much time as possible with her newborn. This time spent will help reduce the stress on mom. This is because being with her child, in most cases, is the most relaxing and comforting feeling. Spending time with her child, for first time mothers, is the most important way to develop parental skills. She becomes a more experienced mother, boosting her confidence tremendously (Brunilda, 2012). Maternity leave can also be taken before the baby is actually born. Having some time off to prepare for her newborn is also extremely beneficial for an expecting mother. Statistics show that women who began their maternity leave in their 9th month of pregnancy were 73% less likely to have a Caesarean section than those who worked up until delivery. Having a Caesarean section is another way to add tremendous stress and discomfort to a recovering new mother. It adds a lot longer recovery time, therefore reducing the ability of the mother to care for her child to her full potential. Therefore, by reducing the chances of needing a Caesarean section upon giving birth, a mother reduces her recovery time so she is able to care for her child in full potential. So therefore, taking maternity leave before her child is born provides a high possibility that she will not need a Caesarean section (Brunilda, 2012). Another important factor relating to maternity leave is the fact that women who return to work shortly after delivery were significantly less likely to establish breastfeeding within the first month. This is not only disadvantageous for the baby, but also for mom. Breastfeeding provides the obvious advantages, such as saving mom time and money by not having to buy formula, sterilize nipples and warm bottles. Along with the obvious benefits, breastfeeding also burns extra calorie, helping mom lose her pregnancy weight faster. It also releases oxytocin, which is a hormone that helps the uterus return to its regular size, and may reduce uterine bleeding after birth (Brunilda, 2012). Breastfeeding also lowers the risk of dangerous situations such as breast and ovarian cancer, as well as osteoporosis. Mothers gain a vast variety of benefits where maternity leave is concerned, benefiting from things as simple as saving time, to things as serious as helping to prevent cancer. Another large party affected by maternity leave is the baby’s father, who is, in a Christian family, the mother’s husband. He also obtains a significant amount of benefits, which will be discussed in the next page. Benefits for Dad For a new father, there can be nothing better than holding their baby for the first time. The father-child bond is, at that moment, created. Fathers play an extremely important role in the lives of children (Brunilda, 2012). Where fathers are concerned, there are many benefits in maternity leave. Every caring, loving father’s first priority is the safety and happiness of their children. When a mother is granted maternity leave, the father gains a sense of reassurance where the safety and happiness of his children are concerned. With mom being home all the time to care for the child, the father has nothing to worry about where the safety of his children is concerned. Mom will be there with the child every second, reassuring dad that his children will be taken care of 100% of the time (Dustman, 2012). Another benefit, even though indirect, is the fact that since the mother is home all day with the baby, when the father gets home from work, the baby is all his. This means that this would be the time for the father to work on building the bond with the baby that every father should have. The fact that mom has the baby all day means that the dad will have the satisfaction of knowing that he can give mom a break, while he also works on his bond with the child (Brunilda, 2012). This is a rewarding feeling for a father, as he knows he is helping care for the child, while giving the mother a break from taking care of him or her all day. Also, this way, there would be no controversy over whose turn it is to do what – the mother gets the baby in the day, and the father gets him or her in the night. This is a benefit for dad, as it is always a good idea to have a plan, and new fathers always appreciate plans.
Benefits for Baby There is nothing better for a baby than the love and attention from their mother. The mother being allowed to be with the baby all the time at the baby’s earliest stages of life has substantial benefits for the baby. The first, and most obvious benefit for the baby is the fact that there will always be someone there to make sure he or she is safe, healthy, and well cared for. (Dustman 2012) There is always the option of a nanny or babysitter, but there is nothing like the love and attention of the baby’s own mother. The second benefit for the baby is the fact that the baby will get breastfed if the mother is able to breastfeed. Breast milk provides the ideal nutrition for infants. It has the perfect mix of vitamins, protein, and fat – everything an infant needs to grow. And it's all provided in a form more easily digested than infant formula. Breast milk contains antibodies that help the baby fight off viruses and bacteria (Brunilda, 2012). Breastfeeding reduces the baby's risk of having asthma or allergies. Babies who are breastfed exclusively for the first six months, without any formula, have fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses, and bouts of diarrhea. They also have fewer hospitalizations and trips to the doctor. (Dustman, 2012) Babies also need lots of love and affection, and with mom being home all the time, there will be no shortage of that. It is extremely important for babies to recognize their mother figure, as this allows them to build a bond themselves with the person who is going to be taking care of them for the rest of their childhood years. Babies need this sense of security, as it helps to create this bond that otherwise would not be there without taking the time out to spend the time with the children. (Dustman, 2012)
Benefits for siblings/other family members It is natural in a sense for mothers of a newborn who have had children before to feel like they are not giving the amount of attention to their other children as they should. They sometimes feel like they are too preoccupied with the responsibilities of caring for their newborn, that they neglect to find time to spend with their older children. Unfortunately, this can sometimes be the case (Dustman, 2012). This is where maternity leave comes in to benefit the older siblings of the household. Since mom is off of work, she automatically has more time. Granted, this time is mainly given to her so that she can care for her newborn. However, this time can also be seen as opportunities for her to spend time with her other children (Dustman, 2012). For example, babies need to take frequent naps during the days. This is the perfect opportunity for mom to spend time with and give the much needed attention to her older children.
Had she not been on maternity leave, she would have to hire a nanny or someone who she trusts to care for her baby while she is at work. If this was the case, those precious intermittent hours where the baby is asleep would not matter to the older children, as the mother would not be home to share those hours with them anyway. Also, if she was not on maternity leave, it would mean that the first order of business to take care of when she got home from work would be to go straight to her newborn and do whatever needed to be done to take care of him or her (Dustman, 2012). By the time all of those necessities are taken care of, it would most likely be time for the older child to get to bed; meaning they would miss out on another opportunity to show their mother their drawings, or listen to her read them a story. With mom being on maternity leave, it gives older children a much better chance of being able to spend time with their mom.

Benefits for Mom’s Company
Everyone knows that as a mother, a new mother especially, your first call of duty is to care for your child. A new mother is constantly thinking about her baby, and wanting to know if he or she is doing okay. As a company, there are a lot of benefits to not having a new mother around the office.
One of these benefits is the fact that a new mother who is away from her child is constantly worried. In an organization where there are a lot of deadlines and quotas to be met, a new mother constantly worrying about the status of her baby is not a person who can handle stress and deadlines. It is in the best interest of the company for the mother to be home with her child. She is much more productive at home, as she will be taking care of her child and helping it grow. Had she been at work, she would probably get into people’s way more than she would be helping them meet deadlines and quotas.
As a company manager, I would definitely prefer a new mother to be home with her child than to be at work, and more than likely slowing down production more than she is helping. It is extremely easy for this new mother to be distracted and not focused on her main job. Rather than paying her to get in the way of other employees and constantly be stressing about the wellbeing of her child, a company would benefit much more from the mother being home and comfortable with her child than to be in at work and not being productive at all (Brunilda, 2012).
This unproductiveness of a worried mother could sometimes, unfortunately, cause company sales and/or profits to decrease, especially if the mother has a high position in the company, a strong influence on coworkers, or if she is a significant person in the eyes of the customers (Brunilda, 2012).

Benefits for Mom’s Coworkers
It’s hard enough when deadlines are getting near and quotas have to be met in an organization, for employees of that organization to get everything done and sorted out in time for these deadlines. Everyone in the company is stressed out and worried about the deadlines not being met. It is already a pressure-filled time for people, and there is nothing that could make the time worse – except for possibly a new mother who is twice as stressed out because she has to be at work instead of at home caring for her newborn (Hall, 2012).
For a new mother to be on a job with high demand is not only a bad situation for her, but is also a very counterproductive situation for her coworkers. Not only would her coworkers feel sympathetic towards her panic and try to console her instead of focusing on his or her own work, but there is also the fact that her sad and worried mood could bring down the mood of the whole office.
As a manager, it would be quite obvious that the way to keep production going and upkeep the mood in the office would be to allow the new mother time off of work so that she is happy, and that none of her coworkers are dragged behind by her sadness, or the fact that she would not be able to get her work done in a timely or efficient manner.
The fact that the mother would not be in the office, as “harsh” as it may sound, would be a much greater benefit for her coworkers than if she was there. Her being there could dampen the mood of the entire office, and potentially slow down progress, production, sales, or even cause her coworkers to miss important deadlines. If she was at work, she could even miss deadlines which could potentially cost her the job.

Benefits for Dad’s Coworkers And Company
In the same idea where mom’s coworkers are concerned, dad’s company will feel some of the same effects. Dad’s first benefit is the fact that he knows his child is at home with his or her mother, is being properly cared for and is healthy and safe. Because of this satisfaction a father gets from the mother being on maternity leave, the father is calmer and focused on his work. The fact that he knows that his child is safe and free from harm will allow him the ease of mind that he needs to successfully carry out his job.
Thankfully, dad’s coworkers and managers can see this. Had the mother of his child not been on maternity leave, it would mean that the father would more than likely have to hire a stranger to care for his baby, which would be nothing but stress on him and the mother. The main downside for the father’s company and coworkers is the fact that he would not be putting his full potential into his work. The added stress may cause him to miss deadlines or quotas, and may even cost the company sales which they potentially could have had if the father was working to his full potential (Hall, 2012).
In the interest of dad’s coworkers, the same rule applies. If the father is feeling stressed about the wellbeing of his child because his or her mother is not there to care for him or her, his coworkers will also get the repercussions of the disadvantages. The first idea behind this is the fact that they will feel sympathetic with the father, especially if they have had children before. They will possibly take the time they need to carry out their job to console the new father, which will lead to not only the father missing deadlines and quotas, but also his coworkers missing deadlines and quotas as they spend their time trying to empathize with him.

Disadvantages for Mom’s Coworkers And Company Even though there are many women who feel like they are lost without knowing the status of their newborn child one hundred percent of the time, there are women who are excellent at keeping their personal life and professional life separate, even in a situation where they just had a baby. In situations like these, maternity leave proves to be very disadvantageous for a company who employs a mother who is extremely talented in keeping her personal life and professional life separate (Hall, 2012). If a new mother holds a very important position in a company, and is seen as someone who is necessary for the wellbeing of a company, allowing her to be gone away from the company in a time of crisis could possibly be the worst thing for that organization to allow. Reason being, if a mother is good at separating her personal life from her professional life, she will be able to handle the stress of meeting deadlines and quotas and will not let the fact that she is worried about her child deter her from doing the work she was hired to do (Hall, 2012). That being said, the biggest disadvantages for the company and her coworkers of her being on maternity leave instead of being at work is the fact that there will be no one who would be able to guide her subordinates, nor will there be anyone who will be able to take her place where reviewing items is concerned. With this type of woman, it would definitely be in the company’s best interest to make sure that she is kept on the job even though she has a newborn at home to take care of. However, in a situation where the mother is not able to separate her personal life from her professional life, it would not be the best idea for the company to keep her on during her sensitive time.

How does Mom decide her leave?
There are 5 steps which a mother should take and consider before she makes her decision on how much time she should take off for her maternity leave. These steps are:
1. Read through your employee handbook and your employer's policies and procedures to see how much (if any) paid maternity leave you will receive. Your employer may even provide a form maternity leave memo that you can simply fill in.
2. Speak with other working moms at your company to see what length of maternity leave worked for them. Ask what they would've done differently and how they stayed connected to work during their leave.
3. Crunch your budget to see how much leave you can afford to take. Make sure to understand how the length of your leave might affect your employer-provided health insurance, if relevant.
4. Discuss leave plans with your spouse or family to see if another adult could take leave after your leave ends to save money on child care and extend your baby's time being cared for by a family member.
5. Explore child care for your return to work and get on daycare wait lists, if relevant.
6. Decide whether you want to write a maternity leave letter that proposes returning to work on a part-time basis or working from home during the end of your maternity leave. These options may appeal if you can't afford to take as long a leave as you'd like but you want to extend your time at home with your baby. Negotiating flexible hours may seem intimidating, but you never know unless you ask.
What are the best companies for paid maternity leave?
Every year, Working Mother researches and reports on the 100 Best Companies to work for. Taking into account their family-friendly benefits—from flexible work schedules to on-site childcare facilities—the companies in the 2011 report had much to offer their working moms (Hall, 2012). One of the most important benefits for any working parent is paid parental leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993, stipulates that employees are entitled to 12 weeks of leave around the time of the birth of their child. While there is no mandate saying that employers have to continue paying wages or salary during a parental leave (and there are other stipulations, as well), all of the companies in Working Mother’s report offer at least a short amount of paid time off. The best companies for paid maternity leave as of 2011 are:
1. Bank of America - Bank of America offers 12 weeks of paid parental leave for mothers, fathers and adoptive parents.
2. Deloitte - Deloitte gives working mothers eight weeks of paid parental leave. Dads can take three weeks of paid time off as well, but if both parents decide that Mom wants to go back to work sooner or Dad wants to have more time with the new baby, these numbers can be reversed!
3. Discovery Communications - At Discovery Communications, working mothers can take up to 11 weeks off with full pay, plus another four weeks with partial pay. Adoptive parents and fathers can take three weeks off with pay.
4. Ernst & Young - Coming in at the top of the Working Mother list, Ernst & Young recently increased its paid maternity leave policy so that new working moms are now entitled to 39 weeks off with full pay.
5. General Mills - General Mills offers 26 job-guaranteed weeks off to both moms and dads; however, only two of those weeks are paid. The company also reimburses adoption expenses up to $10,000 (Hall, 2012).

Before she leaves, how can mom ensure someone can fill her position?
An expecting mother’s responsibility would be to ensure that upon her leaving for maternity leave, there is someone who will be able to take her place for the time being. Otherwise, she will be significantly behind in her work, and could also potentially come back to a job that is unmanageable (Burdette, 2012). There are three main steps in training a subordinate or colleague. These steps are get to know each other, leadership vs. tyranny, and don’t guess about expectations. These steps should be carefully carried out when considering a new person for the job, as it is extremely important that whoever is chosen to do the job has the skills required to carry out the job successfully.
Get to Know Each Other – Learn one another's work styles. Although you may be a born leader, you may not necessarily be an effective colleague. There are limited opportunities in the natural work flow for a colleague to spend time with you where some actionisn't required. Therefore, it can be difficult for your colleague to learn about your work style through experience. Spend some time thinking about your work styles for communication, organization, relationship management and reporting tactics. Ask your supervisor or subordinate to do the same and schedule some time to compare notes. Understanding how the other person works can better inform collaboration methods and communication. If you choose, you can discuss your professional or academic background; the other person may find it helpful. Discussing your personal life is completely optional but is a nice way to relate socially when appropriate.
Leadership vs. Tyranny – Be open to open dialogue. With increased responsibility as a supervisor, it's sometimes easy to take the term "supervisor" too literally. A supervisor is a colleague who works in a leadership capacity with her subordinates to accomplish the goals of the organization. This may mean working alongside subordinates on a project or delegating specific tasks for implementation. A supervisor who is a leader is open to constructive criticism and will do what's necessary to accomplish the goal and ensure that team members are invested and supported in their work. A tyrant listens to no one and is very self-focused. Have a discussion with your team about what it means to be a leader and what it means to be a tyrant. Chances are that the team members have experienced effective and ineffective supervisors and colleagues. A dialogue about which characteristics or qualities are helpful and which ones are not provide paramount insight on how to better manage a working relationship.

Don't Guess About Expectations – Let people know what's expected of them. One of the causes of ineffective colleague relationships is communication about expectations. It's common for employees to want to impress their supervisor, so some will refrain from asking questions or clarifying things at the expense of appearing ignorant. High-level expectations are set by the organization. Operational expectations should be set by the supervisor and communicated to the employee. Failure to communicate expectations to an employee can result in an employee's failure at a task or obligation. (Burdette, 2012)

Why should mom get full pay on her leave?
A study by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that a majority of first-time, working mothers are receiving paid maternity leave. This is the first time this has happened since the government began tracking that data, which was back in the early 80s. Women with college educations reap even more of a benefit; ladies with bachelor's degrees or higher are more likely to get paid maternity leave than those with less than a high school diploma (Alabaster, 2012)
Interestingly, it was also found that despite that perk of paid leave, many mothers are working later and later into their pregnancies - and returning to work sooner than mothers in previous generations did.
It's all a reflection of economic struggles, according to experts in the field. More and more often, families are relying on women to be primary breadwinners, which is a huge shift from that archaic "women as homemakers, men as moneymakers" marriage worldview. In addition, working up until the delivery and returning to the office quickly sends a signal to employers that a woman is "dedicated," according to some experts. Cost of childcare - and ability to afford it - is also a huge factor (Alabaster, 2012).
Arguments could be made for and against these developments. On the plus side, it's great that more employers are realizing the importance of maternity leave and, as a result, are paying their employees for the duration of the leave. However, it could also be argued that women who aren't taking advantage of their full leave period are missing time that could be spent connecting with their newborns - and precious recuperation time (Alabaster, 2012).

Why should Mom get a percentage of her pay on her leave?
“The U.S. is the only high-income nation not to have paid maternity leave, while almost all middle- and low-income countries offer it, too,” says Jody Heymann, founding director of McGill University’s Institute for Health and Social Policy and author of Raising the Global Floor: Dismantling the Myth That We Can’t Afford Good Working Conditions for Everyone. The exceptions include Swaziland, Papua New Guinea—and the United States.
As advanced as our nation is economically and technologically, it remains dismally behind the times when it comes to supporting families after the birth of a child. Numerous studies show that early bonding with parents sets children up for long-term health and well-being. “All aspects of adult human capital, from workforce skills to cooperative and lawful behavior, build on capacities that are developed during childhood, beginning at birth,” states a 2007 report from the National Scientific Council Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.

And yet only about half of all first-time moms in the United States are able to take any paid leave after childbirth; and just a fifth of working women with young children receive leave with full pay, according to a review of the most recent Census data by the Washington, DC–based advocacy group National Partnership for Women & Families. Nor is the situation getting better. A Families and Work Institute report found only 16 percent of the companies it surveyed offered fully paid maternity leave in 2008, down from 27 percent in 1998.

If she gets a percentage, what determines this percentage?
Maternity Benefit is a payment made to women who are on maternity leave from work and covered by social insurance (PRSI). Women should apply for the payment 6 weeks before they intend to go on maternity leave (12 weeks if they are self-employed). The amount of money paid to them each week depends on their earnings in the relevant tax year (2 years before their Maternity Benefit claim). If they are already on certain social welfare payments then they may get half-rate Maternity Benefit. If they think they have been wrongly refused Maternity Benefit or they are unhappy about a decision of a Social Welfare Deciding Officer about your entitlements, they can appeal this decision.
Some employers will continue to pay an employee, in full, while she is on maternity leave and require her to have any Maternity Benefit paid to them. She should check her contract of employment to see what applies to her. Maternity Benefit is not taxable. She can get more information from Revenue on how Maternity Benefit is treated for tax purposes.
What other “benefits” should Mom and Baby get for her leave?
According to the FMLA, a mother’s company must continue to keep her on its health insurance plan while she is on leave, whether it's disability or family leave. Most typically, a company will pay her premiums but ask to be reimbursed for her share (the amount that's usually taken out of her paycheck). If her company is particularly generous, it may cover her share and not ask her to pay it back (Haffner, 2011).
If she tells her company that she does not plan to return to work following her leave or if her job is eliminated while she is gone, her employer may stop paying her premiums and put her on COBRA, a program in which she continues to be covered under the same plan, but must pay the entire premium herself (Haffner, 2011).
Should she leave her job, her employer may require her to pay back the money spent to maintain her health insurance while she was on leave. That's unless the reason she is not returning to work is that she has developed a serious medical condition or some other circumstance beyond her control; for example, her spouse is transferred to a job in another city and she has to move.
The FMLA doesn't require employers to allow her to accrue benefits or time toward seniority when she is out on leave. That means the clock may stop on things like vacation accrual and the amount of time she can say she has been with the company in order to qualify for things like raises based on seniority, additional vacation days, participation in her company's 401k plan, or vesting of her company's matching investment, or vesting of stock options. Finally, she won't be able to contribute to her 401(k) or flexible spending account while she is on leave because she is not receiving a paycheck from her employer and thus can't contribute pre-tax dollars.
Upon Mom’s return to work, how can she juggle working and raising a baby?
Many new moms returning to work from a maternity leave feel torn between their seemingly conflicting roles. They value their professional accomplishments and the income it brings -- but they are tormented by the prospect of leaving their precious baby who is still so tiny and needy. "I started looking for a daycare center three weeks into my maternity leave," says Robin Bluman, a sales manager in East Windsor, New Jersey. "I liked the place we decided to use, but it was still hard to leave him. I knew no one could take care of Randy as well as I could." (Groom, 2012)
In addition, since many babies aren't sleeping through the night as the typical three-month maternity leave ends, you can expect to be profoundly exhausted and even, thanks to still-fluctuating hormones, weepy. Your former workday routine must be reconfigured as you hammer out every detail of your new day, from which parent will shower first while the other watches the baby, to when and where you'll pump if you're still breastfeeding. That's not to overlook such minor indignities as carefully cobbling together a work wardrobe to fit a body that hasn't yet bounced back from pregnancy.
Of course, there are benefits. Some working moms find that they are good parents because of their job, not in spite of it. Research shows that the best mothers are happy, competent, socially connected, and supported -- qualities that, for some women, are most easily attained by remaining in the workplace (Groom, 2012). But navigating the transition from maternity leave to the office takes, well, work. Conclusion
Maternity leave is something which should be seriously considered by any family getting ready to have a child. The Family Medical Leave act of 1993 and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 describe the time by which companies have to grant employees off for maternity leave, unpaid. However, there are different policies enforced by different companies which can permit either more time, or possibly, paid leave.
Mothers, fathers and children are the greatest beneficiaries of maternity leave. However, the companies which the mother and father work for can also be beneficiaries of maternity leave, depending on the situations which the mother and company are in. Sometimes, if the mother is an essential member to the company, maternity leave can also be a disadvantage to the company.
Mothers in the United States are not entitled to paid leave, based on the laws regarding maternity leave. However, depending on the company the mother works for, there can be substantial benefits for being on maternity leave. Depending on the organization, mothers can be granted more time off, or even paid leave. There are steps which should be taken in order to ensure that leave benefits are secured and guaranteed for new mothers.
New mothers need a bit of advice for juggling going back to work and caring for a young baby. This paper gives detailed examples on how this should be done, in a way that keeps the interests of the mother, father, baby and company in mind. Maternity leave is an excellent topic with lots of aspects to it, which can be discussed in many terms and conditions.
References
• U.S. Department of Labor. (2011, March). Maternity Leave. Retrieved from http://www.americanpregnancy.org/planningandpreparing/maternityleave.html
• Hall, J. (2012, Maternity leave shake-up. Caterer & Hotelkeeper, 202, 46-46. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.pba.edu/docview/922423291?accountid=26397
• Dustmann, C., & Schönberg, U. (2012). Expansions in maternity leave coverage and children's long-term outcomes. American Economic Journal. Applied Economics, 4(3), 190-224. doi: 10.1257/app.4.3.190
• Groom, B. (2012, May 09). Parental leave reform faces delays. Financial Times, pp. 2. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.pba.edu/docview/1011635476?accountid=26397
• Alabaster, O. (2012, May 01). 10-week maternity leave too short: Mothers. McClatchy - Tribune Business News, pp. n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.pba.edu/docview/1010366722?accountid=26397
• Burdette, W. (2012). Moms need longer maternity leave, researchers say. The State Journal, 28(16), 10-10. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.pba.edu/docview/1014145193?accountid=26397
• Haffner, R. (2011, June). The laws surrounding maternity leave. Retrieved from http://pregnancy.familyeducation.com/postpartum/maternity-leave/57441.html
• Neale, T. (2011, January 06). Maternity leave good for mother and baby. Retrieved from http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/12336
• Brunilda, M. (2010, December 20). Webmd. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/breastfeeding-9/nursing-basics