Maternity Leave

All the talk about Yahoo's new maternity leave policy (16 paid weeks!) makes us wonder about maternity leave policies elsewhere in the world. In the US, the Family Leave and Medical Leave Act dictates we should expect at least 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave. Of course, not all American companies follow that to a T. Some, like Yahoo, provide more generous policies than the required minimum. But as you take a look at the list below, you'll realize that perhaps the tech giant is just catching up to the rest of the world:

1. Sweden: 420 days, 80 percent of paid wages.
2. Denmark: 52 weeks, 100 percent of paid wages.
3. Serbia: 52 weeks, 100 percent of paid wages.
4. United Kingdom: 52 weeks, 90 percent of paid wages.
5. Canada: 52 weeks, 55 percent of paid wages for the first 17 weeks of maternity leave.
6. Croatia: 1 year, 100 percent of paid wages.
7. Albania: 1 year, 80 percent of paid wages before birth and for the next 150 days after birth. For the rest of the maternity leave, you get 50 percent of paid wages.
8. Bosnia and Herzegovina: 1 year, 82 percent of paid wages for the first month, and 75 percent for the rest of the maternity leave.
9. Norway: 46 to 56 weeks, 100 percent of paid wages if you take 46 weeks off but 80 percent if you take 56 weeks off.

This reader posted in our anonymous Savvy Confessions group, asking how her job will be affected if she takes maternity leave. Do you have any advice for her?

I work in a very small office which includes myself, a nurse, an office assistant, and our program director. Before the holidays, the program director took on an additional position within the company, but at another clinic, which now has him out of our office about 50 percent of the time. At that time, there was one other person in the office with the same job as me, but she was fired a few weeks ago, so now, I fly solo a majority of the time until we can find someone to replace her. Two days before my six month review, I found out I am pregnant! My husband and I are SO EXCITED, and had planned on starting a family this year. Initially, when I interviewed for the position, I mentioned that my husband and I were hoping to begin a family soon as well. Now, I am terrified to tell my boss that I am pregnant! He is a really nice person, but saying that he does not handle stress well would be an understatement.

Read on for more.

Most of my friends in my age range (the mid to late 20s) aren't really thinking about kids and how becoming a mother will affect their careers. All we talk about is how we want to progress in our work lives and what we're going to do to get there. However, I've been realizing that it's a good idea to start thinking about how becoming a mom will affect our careers. If we think about it ahead of time, we'll be well prepared when the time comes around. Huffington Post writer Margaret Heffernan gives some great ideas on what you should do in your professional life before motherhood:

• Bank up achievements. Heffernan recommends building a solid resume of achievements and skills before you take some time off to be a mommy. And while you're away, do your best to keep in touch with professional contacts and find ways to retain your skills. You can do that by taking classes or workshops.
• Find what you love before you have kids. This will make the transition back to work easier. In fact, in a New Yorker profile, Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg says that she's seen too many women give up their jobs once they had children because they were not doing what they loved prior to having kids.

I'm gradually seeing the conversations with people in my Gen Y social circle changing and heading toward serious life topics such as down payments on houses, how big the wedding guest list is going to be, and baby names. Becoming a mother is a reality that many career women will face, so it's better to start thinking about it now even if kids are currently the furthest things from your mind.

Working moms who breastfeed have to keep their milk supply while they are on the corporate clock. The health care reform bill requires employers to provide nursing moms with space and time to pump, so we asked Gina Ciagne, a certified lactation counselor and director of breastfeeding and consumer relations at Lansinoh Laboratories, for some tips!

• Nurse as often as possible before returning to work. According to Ciagne, "Any time that (mom) and the baby are together, put baby on the breast to establish supply."
• Get a "very good, strong, effective double pump." It will help stimulate both breasts simultaneously, signaling that it is time to let the milk down, and ultimately encourage the body to produce more milk for the next session.
• Learn how to use the pump prior to returning to work. Become familiar with the various parts (of the pump) so there are no surprises during a blocked-out period of pumping time.
• Build up a freezer stash before returning to work. Milk supplies often dip once a mama returns to work. Knowing that there is a healthy supply in the freezer will reduce stress, which could further impact milk production.
• Mimic the baby's feeding schedule. If the baby feeds every two hours, mom should be pumping every two hours. While many workplace environments are not conducive to such frequent pumping, according to Ciagne, even "if she can only get five minutes of pumping in, it's better than skipping a session. If she skips a pumping session, it says to her body 'don’t make the milk next time.'"

There's hardly a more exciting time in someone's life than when they discover they are willfully pregnant. Most mamas-to-be want to scream it from the mountain tops but there's usually one ear they'd like to shield — their boss's. Many women try to hide their expectant status until it is blatantly obvious to co-workers and their higher-ups because they don't know how their news will be received. Before she can give a due date, employers' minds are ticking: Who can replace her? Will she come back? Do we even need her? While those are all valid questions, it is often up to the childbearing woman to make those decisions, which is why some are wondering if motherhood is making women more unemployable.

The Vogue UK Editor Alexandra Shulman has sparked a debate that will leave many moms angry and others nodding their heads in agreement. Worried about Britain's maternity leave laws, she believes new mothers may be doing themselves a disservice if they take a year-long leave and then expect to return to the same benefits as before but with lower professional expectations. British designer Anya Hindmarch supports her view. She quips:

If we are not careful (and I speak as a mother and an employer), maternity leave and benefits will become too biased towards the mother and not considerate enough for the employer... In which case, it can start to work against women as it becomes too complicated and expensive to employ them. To me, it shouts of shooting ourselves in the foot.

Do you believe that longer maternity leave and flexible work schedules are working against women in the workplace?