How does 12 weeks of maternity leave at full pay and up to a year at 60 percent pay sound? How about a 98 percent of newborns being exclusively breastfed when they leave the hospital and 72 percent exclusively breastfed at 4 months of age? Consider an infant mortality rate of 5 per 1000 live births. What about requiring men, by law, to share equally with their wives and partners in household chores and the care and nurturing of children?
Something for the United States to dream of?
Some of you are probably thinking, there she goes, touting the benefits of the Canadian system again. But no…I’m talking about Cuba.
It is shocking that infant mortality is higher and increasing in the United States, while it is lower and declining in Cuba when you consider the per capita health expenditures of the two countries (around $7000 for the United States and $251 for Cuba). An article in Midwifery Today credits the lower infant mortality rate to the concept of health care as a right, not a privilege. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) explain that “infant mortality is one of the most important indicators of the health of a nation“.
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative has made a significant difference in breastfeeding rates in Cuba. According to a UNICEF report on breastfeeding breakthroughs, between the time it was introduced in 1990 and the writing of the report in 1998, the rate of newborns being breastfed when they left the hospital increased from 64 percent to 98 percent. The same report said that 72 percent were still exclusively breastfed at 4 months while a different United Nations report claimed the amount was 46 percent (not sure what the discrepancy is from – perhaps the first stat is only for babies born in Baby Friendly Hospitals?). While I couldn’t find a comparable statistic for the United States, I did find that 31.5 percent were exclusively breastfed at 3 months of age (so lower than Cuba in any case). There are 57 baby-friendly hospitals in Cuba and only 25 in the United States. That is one such hospital per 122 million people in the USA and one such hospital per 198,000 people in Cuba. Another provision that helps mothers continue to breastfeed is the additional two daily rest periods of 30 minutes each that are given to lactating mothers that have returned to work.
Maternity leave was introduced in 1934 in Cuba and extended in 1963. It has been expanded and improved several times and now:
Cuba’s maternity and parental leave legislation is among the most progressive in the hemisphere: pregnant women are entitled to 18 weeks fully-paid leave (six weeks before birth and 12 after), plus an additional 40 weeks at 60% pay, assured of returning to their same job.
Compared to 12 weeks of maternity leave at no pay in the United States, this is pretty good! Until recently, fathers that wanted to stay at home with their babies didn’t have that option. However, in 2003 the government changed the law to allow either the father or the mother to take the additional 40 weeks at 60% pay, but few fathers have taken the leave so far. This, and other machismo traditions in Cuban society demonstrate that despite a law dating back to the 1970s that “required men to share equally with their wives and partners in household chores and the care and nurturing of children, regardless of whether each contributed equally to the family’s financial support“, the stereotypical role of women as the caregiver to babies and children remains.
Sure, Cuba isn’t perfect. I recognize that. But when it comes to advancing the rights of mothers and babies, perhaps the United States could learn something. We can dream, can’t we?
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“In any case, there is clearly more going on the breastfeeding vs. formula feeding debate than just worrying about who can make which choices. For some, their choice is already made for them.
*For more perspectives on paid maternity leave and breastfeeding, you can visit this blog and that blog. “
This is really interesting! Go Cuba!
Here is little old backwater NZ, we don’t have it too bad. We get a government subsidy (its not as much as my pay would be but its better than a kick up the bum) for 14 weeks and you can start that 14 weeks up to 6 weeks before having bubs. We get up to 52 weeks unpaid on top of that.
Your job MUST be kept open for you up to a year. Also because I am a council minion and our council is trying to be all ‘progressive’ they offer us up to 12 weeks paid leave on top of the government subsidy out of the goodness of their hearts (to entice you to come back to your job basically). The catch to the 12 weeks paid leave from work is that you get 20% when you leave, 40% 3 months after you come back and another 40% 6 months after you return to work…but still its above what it law here so its really not bad.
All hospitals and birthing centres are huge advocates of breastfeeding and are very supportive of it. As ive mentioned in my own posts about my formula feeding – formula is under lock and key. By law here, employers MUST provide somewhere to breastfeed or express and you can take a number of unpaid breaks throughout the day to do this.
We are also lucky in that when you have a child (or more) here you are eligible for tax credits each week. So thats really helpful.
We are not Cuba, but we are not doing too bad i think!
In Norway Mum gets 42 weeks with 100% or 52 weeks with 80% of your full wage. Mummy must take 3 weeks before birth and 6 weeks after birth off work as a minimum. Dad is entitled to 10 weeks fully paid paternaty leave. You get a monthly payment of about 180 us$ pr. child until the child is 18, if you’re single you get paid for one child more than you actually have. There’s also a payment of about 600 us$ pr month if you choose not to leave your child in kindergarten but stay at home with your child instead. (this last one is for unemployed mums). + you get about 6500 us $ as a one time payment at birth, which applies to all.
And yes, we do have a high tax level
being socialists and all….