Paid parental leave may help protect new mums from mental health difficulties

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-10-20 00:01

New Zealand

Photo by Khoa Pham on Unsplash

Having a baby is exciting, but the time following the birth can be intensely stressful. Mental health difficulties are common for both the people who have given birth and their partners, and Aotearoa has a particularly high rate of maternal suicide compared with other countries. In an editorial for the New Zealand Medical Journal, the authors look at the evidence and say that it suggests that parental leave is protective against poorer mental health outcomes for mothers, especially paid leave lasting at least 2-3 months. Parental leave for partners also appears to have a positive effect on mothers' mental health. The authors welcome further support for families who have new babies, but caution that any new paid parental leave policies need to be evaluated to make sure they are delivering the desired benefits.

Media release

From: Pasifika Medical Association Group

Mental health difficulties are common for parents during pregnancy and after the birth of a baby. Rates of parental depression and anxiety are high in New Zealand, and we have a particularly high rate of maternal suicide compared with other countries. This is contributed to by significant inequities in suicide risk for pregnant and postpartum women, and wāhine Māori are much more likely to die by suicide than NZ European women. Paid parental leave is protective against poorer mental health outcomes in mothers, including depression, psychological distress and burnout. There are also positive physical and mental health effects for children.

Journal/
conference: New Zealand Medical Journal

Organisation/s: University of Otago

Funder: na

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