Commentary: Parental Leave Policies: Have We Come a Long Way, Baby?

Excerpt

Even in 2020 B.C. (Before COVID), stress reduction and burnout in the workplace were becoming increasingly common content of medical publications and e-mails from professional organizations and our institutional leaders. The concept of stress but not stress reduction has been in our literature for decades as exemplified in one psychiatry survey published ~ 40 years ago in which having pregnant colleagues was considered a stressful factor for their co-workers [1]. As summarized in a more recent survey of almost 500 healthcare providers, lack of support, lack of respect, and problems with the proverbial work life balance are proven risk factors for burnout [2]. Acknowledging the risks to employee health and patient safety, some institutions are taking novel and aggressive stances to address this problem with a formal wellness program for individuals [2]. With a corporate focus on well-being, the time is ripe to aggressively address the issue of parental health as well. Several groups have shown previously that paid maternity leave improves infant and maternal health with a reduction in postpartum depression and familial re-hospitalizations and with improved child development [3, 4]. …