This article outlines the main points relating to Maternity Rights and the law. It emphasises the wisdom of being knowledgeable of these aspects, and ensuring they are understood by relevant members of staff. (+info)
Maternal employment and breast-feeding: findings from the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey.
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OBJECTIVES: This analysis uses nationally representative data from the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey to explore the factors, including employment, associated with breast-feeding initiation and duration. METHODS: Multiple logistic regression was used to model the determinants of breast-feeding initiation among 9087 US women. Multiple linear regression was used to model the duration of breast-feeding among women who breast-fed. RESULTS: Fifty-three percent of mothers initiated breast-feeding in 1988, and the decision to breast-feed was not associated with maternal employment. However, among breast-feeders, returning to work within a year of delivery was associated with a shorter duration of breast-feeding when other factors were controlled. Among employed mothers, the duration of maternity leave was positively associated with the duration of breast-feeding. CONCLUSIONS: The low rates of breast-feeding initiation in the United States are not attributable to maternal participation in the labor force. However, returning to work is associated with earlier weaning among women who breast-feed. (+info)
Job adjustment as a means to reduce sickness absence during pregnancy.
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OBJECTIVES: This study examined the effect of job adjustment on sickness absence during pregnancy and also determined the conditions under which such adjustments are obtained. METHODS: Data were derived from a nationally representative survey on work conditions during pregnancy in Norway in 1989. For employees (N = 2713) remaining in the same job throughout pregnancy, the percentage of women on sick leave immediately before delivery was determined according to the need for job adjustment and the obtainment of job adjustment. Those obtaining job adjustment were grouped according to workplace size, labor-market sector, co-worker gender, educational level, work schedules, weekly workhours, children under 16 years of age in the household, and age. RESULTS: All told, 1691 women (62.3%) needed job adjustment, among whom 936 (55.4%) obtained such adjustment. The proportions of those on sick leave before delivery were 45.2% for "no need", 67.9% for "need - adjustment obtained", and 79.2% for "need - adjustment not obtained". In the last category, the difference (versus "adjustment obtained") constituted 44.5% of the weeks lost because of sickness absence in the last half of pregnancy. The odds ratio (OR) for obtaining job adjustment was larger for workplaces with more than 50 employees (OR 1.4) and smaller for jobs with work schedules other than daytime or shift work (OR 0.5) and also for women living with children under 16 years of age (OR 0.8). CONCLUSIONS: Job adjustment is associated with reduced sickness absence during pregnancy. Further studies should explore workplace characteristics that make it difficult to obtain such adjustments, as required by law. (+info)
Pregnant workers. A physician's guide to assessing safe employment.
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The demographics of the workforce have changed dramatically in recent decades. Today women constitute nearly 50% of the workforce, and most are in their reproductive years. Women are employed in occupations with exposures to strenuous physical exertion, chemicals, ionizing radiation, heat, noise, vibration, infectious agents, and stress. These factors can, in some instances, pose risks to pregnant workers and their developing fetuses. Primary care physicians are at times asked to assess the work environment and the safety of employment during pregnancy. Physicians who evaluate pregnant workers should be aware of the available databases and understand the process for evaluating a possible reproductive risk. Physician certification that a worker is disabled due to pregnancy can result in a substantial financial burden to both employer and employee. In this article, we review pertinent legal and employment issues related to pregnancy, provide clues to obtaining an individual exposure history, identify categories of concern for pregnant workers, and provide an approach to assessing the risk for each of these categories. (+info)