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Breastfeeding Leave for Dads

Friday, October 22nd, 2010 by:

I’m all for equal rights, but is granting fathers’ breastfeeding leave taking things a little too far?

Spanish fathers are now granted the same rights as their female partners when it comes to breastfeeding leave. (In Spain, parents can take an hour off in the middle of the work day or leave work a half-hour early during the first nine months of their child’s life.)

The European Union Court of Luxembourg said it recognized the importance of family bonding during these “feeding” breaks and ruled that father’s not be excluded. Men are even able to take the leave if their wife is at home full-time with the baby.

And things are about to get even better for new families in Spain.

As of January 2011, the Spanish government is extending its paternity leave from 13 days to four weeks. How great would it be to have two parents at home for a full month after giving birth?

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 22nd, 2010 at 4:13 am and is filed under Nancy's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Breastfeeding Leave for Dads”

  1. Sue Says:
    October 22nd, 2010 at 10:20 am

    I think it is great, but there are many single mums that would not have that support. Should aunts, uncles, grandparents be allowed time off to help a new mum? It’s quite a difficult area. It’s lovely for dads though, it’s a wonderful time of being together. I’d rather see dad’s being able to room in with a mum during and after the birth.

  2. Nancy Ripton Says:
    October 22nd, 2010 at 10:58 am

    North America pay attention – we need to make it easier for families to spend time together.

  3. April Kurtyka Says:
    October 26th, 2010 at 1:31 pm

    I think this is wonderful. As a Lactation Consultant, I see so many women struggle with breastfeeding and much of the time its due to lack of support. Its seems that with todays economy, partners sometimes don’t take any leave time. This just places too much stress on the new Momma. If even the slightest thing is bothering her with breastfeeding, it can seem so overwhelming. Many times they feel they have to give up, only to regret it later.

    If partners were able to stay home for a certain amount of time with mom, perhaps breastfeeding rates would be better????