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They Say: Work Stress Makes For Skinny Babies

I would hope that the results of the following study won't be a reason to discriminate against women in stressful or physically demanding jobs. Researchers at the University College Dublin and a French health research organization found that a baby is five times more likely to be born premature if the mother worked at a job under two or more of the following conditions:

Posted May 04 2009, 02:29 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 5 comment(s)

Filed under: pregnancy, premature babies, maternity leave, they say, preemiees, work stress, temp jobs

Pregnant Cop Denied Light Duty Sues Department

If you're getting pregnant on your own time, is it up to your employer to provide lighter duties during your pregnancy?

In general, I think most of America (especially us mothers) would say "absolutely." But a case in a Long Island court puts a unique twist on the age-old "is pregnancy really a disability" argument between moms and their employers.

Posted Apr 27 2009, 04:22 PM by JeanneSager with | with 14 comment(s)

Filed under: pregnancy, pregnant, working parents, maternity leave, disability, paternity leave, family medical leave act, Jeanne Sager, working mother, disability insurance

Planned Change to UK Maternity Leave Give More Time to Fathers

U.S. moms looking at 6 weeks of unpaid maternity leave will have to pinch themselves when they read about the U.K.'s proposed changes to their current 9-month, partly paid government guaranteed maternity leave. After complaints that such a long maternity leave shortchanges fathers and potentially makes women of childbearing age less appealing to employers, while the small percentage of pay made it difficult for families with low incomes to take the leave, some changes have been proposed.The new plan would give mothers

Posted Mar 30 2009, 10:30 AM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 15 comment(s)

Filed under: parental leave, family leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, Shannon LC Cate, european social programs

Soldier Gives Birth At Army Barracks

A British soldier gave birth in her barracks. No one knew.

A 20-year-old British private gave birth the other day. Ho-hum, right? But listen to this:

- She delivered the baby herself.
- She hid the child for "days" (it doesn't say how many) before anyone found out she had, you know, given birth.
- She hid the pregnancy from her fellow soldiers. Officers asked if she was pregnant but she said no. "She continued to take part in exercises and had been to the gym wearing loose clothes." No one seems to know why she didn't want to admit it.

Posted Mar 05 2009, 02:00 AM by Brett Singer with | with 4 comment(s)

Filed under: pregnancy, news, birth, maternity leave, army, Brett Singer, british soldier gives birth in army barracks, soldiers

Will M.I.A Perform at Sunday's Oscars? After Giving Birth Last Week?

After giving birth to a baby, it’s a given that one will take some well deserved time off. The big question is, will songstress M.I.A. do just that?

Posted Feb 18 2009, 08:26 PM by SunnyChanel with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: oscars, maternity leave, MIA, M.I.A.’s grammy outfit, M.I.A., maternity dress, M.I.A.’s oscar performance, M.I.A. performing in bed, M.I.A performing at grammys

French Politician at Work 5 Days After C-Section

Rachida Dati, French justice minister, attended a cabinet meeting last week five days after giving birth by c-section. It might not be giving a speech while leaking amniotic fluid, but the move sparked a lot of outrage across France, with a majority of the public saying it was "too soon" and she should have used more of the four months (six weeks before, ten after. swoon.) she had coming to her.

Posted Jan 13 2009, 05:31 PM by Miriam Axel-Lute with | with 4 comment(s)

Filed under: working parents, family leave, working mothers, maternity leave, France, paternity leave, politicians, c-sections, Axel-Lute, workaholism, time off, family leave policy, Rachida Dati

They Say: Planning to Work Until the First Contraction? Plan for Surgery.

Women who worked up until their due date had four times the rate of c-sections as women who started their maternity leave at 35 weeks, a new study from UC Berkeley has found.

Now, I'm not sure how you can control for self-selection in that kind of study. I imagine that women starting their maternity leave early are both more likely to be placing a priority on their birth experience and better off financially, each of which could affect their outcomes. (I'm assuming they excluded people with scheduled c-sections from the study.)

On the other hand, the results were is four times as likely, not a titchy 10 to 15 percent or something.

Posted Jan 08 2009, 03:00 PM by Miriam Axel-Lute with | with 15 comment(s)

No Good Choices in Child Care Debate

It’s a familiar paradox to every parent who works outside the home – childcare costs so much that sometimes it just makes more sense to stay home, even if that’s not what you would really prefer to do –and that’s if you can find a spot in a halfway decent center.

So I thought this brief blog post from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Working Dad, Paul Nyhan, to be interesting. He stated that on average, child care center directors – that is, the people running the show – make 35 percent less than kindergarten teachers. You know the people who have the most direct contact with the kids make much less. And 17 percent of all family-owed child care centers have closed in the last five years.

Something like half of all kids are regularly in child care, he states –

Posted Dec 15 2008, 05:28 PM by Amy Kuras with | with 6 comment(s)

Filed under: working parents, child care, daycare, stay at home parents, maternity leave, working women, minimum wage, child care workers

Canada Nixes Parents' Request for Dual Leave At Twins Birth

Some say twice the kids means twice the works. That's what Christian Martin and Paula Critchley are expecting anyway . . . along with twins, due to be delivered in May. To get ready, the couple both put in for the thirty-five weeks of leave afforded Canadian parents after a baby is born. They've been denied.

Posted Nov 20 2008, 03:02 PM by JeanneSager with | with 8 comment(s)

Filed under: twins, multiple births, Canada, maternity leave, disability, paternity leave, family medical leave act, Jeanne Sager

Was Trig Palin drugged?

This comes from a reader, who asked what I think is an interesting question that I haven't heard anyone else ask: how exactly is the Palin family getting Trig to stay so calm while in the public eye?

Posted Sep 04 2008, 02:30 PM by Brett Singer with | with 12 comment(s)

Palin family online - real or fake?

If the Internet is to be believed, John McCain has chosen a running mate whose family life is just thisclose to being a full season of The Jerry Springer Show. However, as we all know, not everything you read (online or in print) is true.

So in the interest of being fair and balanced (ahem), we present to you a list of what we've found out regarding the veracity of the various blogs, photos and assorted Palin hoo-ha.

Posted Sep 03 2008, 03:45 PM by Brett Singer with | with 9 comment(s)

McCain, Palin oppose teen pregnancy aid and sex education

Palin is against

Ah, running for President. Everything you've ever done is fair game. But hey, stay out of their personal lives! But hang on – this is about their political views? Oh. Um. OK.

Posted Sep 03 2008, 10:20 AM by Brett Singer with | with 4 comment(s)

Sarah Palin, Sportscaster

Before she entered politics, way back in 1988, Sarah Palin was known as Sarah Heath. She was, as you may have heard, a sports anchor for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska. Video was bound to surface eventually; I'm actually surprised it took this long.

Posted Aug 31 2008, 12:00 PM by Brett Singer with | with 4 comment(s)

Political Nanny: Sarah Palin is McCain's VP Pick!

It's all but official as lots and lots of arrows are pointing toward Alaska's popular, recently post-partum governor, Sarah Palin, as McCain's top pick for VP.

We've covered her here at Babble. She gave birth to her fifth child some months ago, a little boy, Trig Paxon Van Palin (Palin rhymes with Halen, as in "Van Halen"). Trig has Down Syndrome.

Posted Aug 29 2008, 10:37 AM by Madeline Holler with | with 29 comment(s)

Filed under: pregnant, maternity leave, John McCain, election 2008, carmen chacon, governor of alaska, alaska, pregnant leaders, sarah palin, pregnancy and work, GOP VP pick

The Unkindest Cut: Paid Time Off Gets the Ax

Just when we started making progress on things like paid maternity leave (we were making progress on that, right?), the economy goes in the shitter. Now, companies are starting to cut back on family-friendly benefits like paid time off for having a baby/adopting a baby/raising a baby.

Sucky!

In fact leaves and pay for time off for both parents are at lower levels than they were a decade ago.

Posted Jun 12 2008, 06:04 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 3 comment(s)

Filed under: wall street journal, maternity leave, paternity leave, paid maternity leave, paid leave, family and medical leave act

Lawyer Fired for Having a Miscarriage

What's worse than having a miscarriage? Getting fired for it!

Which is exactly what happened to this attorney at the San Francisco law firm Paul Hastings. Here are the opening lines of her depature email (which she won't get sued for writing since she passed up three months severance pay in order to not have to agree to stay quiet).

The circumstances surrounding my departure from Paul Hastings have been deeply disappointing. It is one thing to ignore an email sent as a colleague is waiting to have her uterus scraped after a miscarriage, but it is wholly another level of heartlessness to lay her off six days after that. [Partner X] is the only one who expressed any sympathy after my miscarriage, and I am grateful to him for that.

Posted May 06 2008, 03:31 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 6 comment(s)

Filed under: miscarriage, maternity leave, fired for getting pregnant, fired for miscarriage, crying at work

Governor Populates Alaska (By One More)

OK, that was fast. We just found out about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's pregnancy, and now she's already given birth!

About a month before her due date -- and while at a governors convention in Texas -- she went into labor. She headed right back to Alaska (!!!) and gave birth to a 6 pound 2 ounce little boy, Trig Paxson Van Palin. (Are we liking that name? Please comment.) Incidentally, Palin rhymes with Halen, as in Van Halen.

Posted Apr 20 2008, 03:26 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 5 comment(s)

Filed under: pregnant, baby names, maternity leave, Spain, carmen chacon, governor of alaska, alaska, pregnant leaders, sarah palin, pregnancy and work, governors giving birth, mothers in power, unusual baby nmaes

Alaskan Governor Preggo Too!

While looking into the much talked about pregnancy of Spain's newly appointed Minister of Defense, I came across this news (how did we miss it?!!!). Alaska's governor, Sarah Palin, sometimes described as quite a MILF, is also pregnant ... really pregnant ... like more than eight months pregnant. She's due in mid-May.

This will be the fifth child for the popular 44-year-old Republican and her husband, on leave from his job at BP.

She said having a baby won't get in the way of her job. And she should know.

Posted Apr 17 2008, 04:33 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 5 comment(s)

Filed under: pregnant, maternity leave, Spain, carmen chacon, governor of alaska, alaska, pregnant leaders, sarah palin, pregnancy and work

Spain's Preggo Defense Minister

Do you ever get the feeling that the whole world is leaving the U.S. behind? Oh, only everyday? Good, then I'm not alone.

Here's what's got me all in a knot today: Spain's Minister of Defense is seven months pregant -- and, in general, that's pretty OK with the country (if not somewhat surprising).

Posted Apr 17 2008, 03:01 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: maternity leave, Spain, paternity leave, pregnancy at work, Zapatero, paid maternity leave, defense minister, socialists, carmen chacon, spain's socialist party

How Taxes Stack Up

It's Tax Day, and you are either sweating out your tax forms at the last minute or you’ve already spent your refund and are smugly awaiting your stimulus payment. Or you’re like me, bleary eyed and cranky because you wanted to make sure you had an extra day to deal with problems and thus stayed up incredibly late last night.

Has I been snug in my bed right on time, though, I would still hate paying taxes to our current government and be extra pissy today because I had to. Especially after looking at this press release from the Council on Contemporary Families at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It lays out what family-friendly benefits US families get for their tax money versus what people in other industrialized nations get for their (admittedly higher) tax dollars. Check it out:

Posted Apr 15 2008, 06:04 PM by Amy Kuras with | with no comments

Filed under: child care, maternity leave, family-friendly policies, taxes, benefits

Pregnancy Discrimination Complaints On the Rise

The Wall Street Journal reports that pregnancy-bias job complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were up by 14 percent this year, and up by 40 percent from a decade ago. Employers aren't allowed to discriminate against the with child in hiring, firing, and lay-offs--which doesn't mean they can't do all those things to you, it just means they can't treat you worse than men. So essentially you have to prove that the actions were motivated by the fact that you were pregnant, which isn't always easy.

While many women also assume...

Posted Mar 29 2008, 09:31 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: pregnancy, wall street journal, employment, discrimination, activism, hiring, maternity leave, jobs, equality, firing, lay-offs, complaints, employers

Maternity Leave and Sick Newborns

Here's the Sophie's Choice of parental leave: use up all your leave time to be with your preemie newborns at the hospital or save it for after they get home?

A federal employee in Washington, D.C., had to make that decision and wound up going back to work two weeks (two weeks!) after giving birth.

Posted Mar 12 2008, 04:03 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 5 comment(s)

Filed under: newborns, NICU, preemies, Washington Post, maternity leave, family medical leave act, family leave laws

Badass Coach/Mom Takes Weeks-Old Twins to Tournament

Here's how I know that I lack determination, motivation, a sense of teamwork and the ability to show some hustle. I think this women's basketball coach is crazy -- admirable, but crazy.

Brenda Frese, a coach/mom for the women's basketball team at the University of Maryland, wanted to be there for the final game of the seniors on her team when they play in the ACC women's basketball tournament in North Carolina. But she couldn't stand the idea of being away from her two newborn sons.

Here's her plan:

Posted Mar 10 2008, 04:35 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: coach, Washington Post, post-partum, maternity leave, short maternity leave, returning to work, brenda frese

Family Issues B-I-N-G-O

Tonight's Democratic debates (which won't include candidate Jesus, whose platform is yet to be determined) should be some good, old-fashioned fun. Only two candidates and loads of acrimony.

However, will Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton get the chance to talk about issues? They won't, say the organizers over at Moms Rising, the grassroots organization that works to get family matters at the top of every political leader's agenda. They've even made up a Moms Rising Presidental Debate Bingo cards, a kind of check list for you to verify which, if any, of these issues gets addressed.

The group also encourages everyone to cast a vote for the following question to be asked at tonight's debate:

Posted Jan 31 2008, 06:57 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: Democratic Party, California, maternity care, activism, moms rising, activism for women and children, maternity leave, debates, paternity leave

Maternity Leave from High School

Thanks to the Family and Medical Leave Act (brought to us by Husband of Hillary) women can take up to twelve weeks off work after the birth or adoption of a child without losing their jobs. It's not paid, so plenty of people can’t afford to take it, and if you're a freelancer like me you're pretty well screwed unless you have understanding clients.

But what about school? Some school counselors and pregnant teenagers in the Denver school district are lobbying their local Board of Education to institute a policy of four weeks maternity leave after the birth of a baby.

Right now, girls have to be back behind their desks within a day of being discharged from the hospital – so, possibly as little as 36 or so hours after giving birth. Ouch.

Predictably, the idea has drawn controversy...

Posted Jan 10 2008, 06:13 PM by Amy Kuras with | with 4 comment(s)

Filed under: high school, teen pregnancy, maternity leave, FLMA

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