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And which working mom would not want a long maternity leave and would respect her baby’s time and even her time? Although the rights of the pregnant woman and mother are a little better than it was in the past, the separation is still too early and painful for the mother and baby .
Is just 120 days off work enough for a relationship as strong and intense as that of mother and baby? The rights of the pregnant woman and mother are the priority of the project. by companies.
Currently, in Brazil, maternity leave is 120 calendar days for private companies and 180 calendar days for some public workers employed by the government who contribute with monthly INSS.
The amount received during maternity leave is a right of the pregnant woman and the new mother and is equivalent to a minimum wage during the entire period of leave. However, the rights of the pregnant woman on maternity leave goes far beyond the benefit received, what weighs the most is the decision to return to work and also when separating mother and baby after delivery and also on the rights of the pregnant woman in the work environment even before baby is born.
Rights are not just for mothers, parents are currently entitled to paternity leave, but this time is much shorter than the mother’s time to be with the baby, they are only 5 days away from work by law. A law in process provides for 30 days of leave for the father, if that happens it will be really good for the affective and family side of the issue.
How could companies and laws help at this point back to work? what is the view that the project with license has in relation to all these questions and how to help in this purpose? I talked to Bia Siqueira , creator of the documentary Com License and about the issues of pregnant women’s rights and about the license in Brazil, see:
Changing Diapers: Bia, How did you come up with the idea of a documentary about maternity leave?
Bia: Long before my first daughter was born, maybe my instinct would make me pay close attention to the women who had children around me. I saw many of them dedicating themselves unbridledly to work, deploying in a thousand to meet all the demands: arriving on time at work, managing the child’s day-to-day distance, producing, taking to the doctor, and yet, being a woman every now and then When.
I have always tried to avoid judgment. I just looked and thought: “something seems very unbalanced… When my time comes, I want to have at least options.” Since then, I’ve been guiding my professional life to something that could give me more flexibility. I know that many women don’t have that option. Natural…
The human being becomes much more sensitive to any subject after living it on the skin. And it is precisely the pregnancy and the birth of the child that makes many women rethink everything, review priorities and worldviews.
I decided to transform that my first feeling back there, into something bigger, something that could really make people think and reflect, and with that make this a social discussion on a large scale. For them, for their children, and for that society I mentioned earlier: society as a complete puzzle.
It is important to note that the film is not only about maternity leave, but as the name is Excused, it is natural for people to make this association. We will address 4 main themes: pregnant at work, maternity leave, paternity leave and returning to work. All of this goes through the support network.
Changing Diapers: What are the biggest difficulties detected for a mommy’s smooth return to work, of course, besides the emotional state and mother-baby bond through the documentary?
Bia: From what I’ve heard, the emotional is really the most difficult … Because it affects everything else. In practical terms, the difficulty often begins with the fear of losing your job after the period of stability ends. This happens a lot … nothing today gives guarantees to women. (After the period of stability provided by law)
Then there is the maintenance of breastfeeding, which is also very difficult, for several reasons that the vast majority of people do not imagine. First of all: the mother has to be very, very willing and willing! Because getting milk to store is not simple. It requires time, care, calm and SUPPORT.
Because the time that you are expressing milk is the same time that you would actually be breastfeeding … So often you are in the middle of a meeting and your chest hurts a lot because it is full of milk. In addition, you need to have somewhere to stock up on the job, and many companies don’t offer it. Then you need to make your own refrigerator. I have friends who took Styrofoam and took milk in the bathroom, an unhygienic environment.
A mother can at most breastfeed in the morning before leaving and at night when she returns, but many, many even do not, because the time it takes to commute to work does not allow them to do this.
The other huge difficulty is the lack of understanding of co-workers. I have heard reports of women who speak to mothers who are returning: “Why don’t you just give the bottle? Hey girl, you’re tired and you get used to the routine. ” It is sad to see that people do not support the bond …
Changing Diapers: And on the emotional side, overcoming this moment is one of the biggest challenges for women, how to deal with this moment in your opinion?
Bia: In my (humble) opinion, each woman needs to be able to feel what she wants … And yes, face whatever she has to face for this, because often the greatest enemy is society, which demands that women be a strength in a moment of so much fragility. I know of cases where the woman talked to the boss, the boss’s boss, and managed to have a flexible schedule, for example. But everything is always word of mouth, trust, because formally the law does not allow this to be done. And there are rare cases where everything goes well, because even in those cases, where an informal agreement is made, there is a certain embarrassment with the team. Again: people are not aware of this moment, of its importance, even if they already have a child.
Changing Diapers: What are the biggest benefits of maternity leave in Brazil compared to other countries? Do you leave anything to be desired?
Bia: Brazil is not bad in terms of time / remuneration for maternity leave, when compared to other countries. The United States and Australia, for example, do not offer paid leave, other countries offer very little time off. It is also necessary to review the question of the woman’s stability, because many times what we see is the woman returning and being dismissed right after the period of stability provided for in the law today (from the confirmation of pregnancy to 5 months after delivery).
Just as important as the woman is the father, who today has only 5 days in a row, that is, we can call the situation pathetic. The father needs to spend more time at home, helping and supporting this new mother and adapting to his new life as a father.
Changing Diapers: In your opinion, have companies better understood the maternity situation today? Despite all the “benefits” that have emerged in recent times, what is most needed that has not yet been implemented?
Bia: In general, yes. But very few still adopt pro-family policies and actions. The change is slow, and every big change requires a lot of effort. In my opinion, what is most lacking in practice is a bigger leave for the father, and a decrease in the mother’s workload that returns to work. I think that 6 hours a day for 6 months would be a big step forward here.
The ideal world is to arrive at a model of parental leave, where mother and father can choose who will stay with their child for how long. In some countries where the model is this, the woman must take a minimum of X days, mandatorily, and then she and the man decide. It is the fairest, in my view.
Changing Diapers: I think there is a lack of assistance for those who work as a freelancer, what could be done in this regard in your opinion?
Bia: I haven’t gotten to this point yet … we are focusing on formal employment. But we know that many people are autonomous, and I think that whoever chose this path, needs to weigh the burden and the bonus of everything. While the self-employed person has more control over his time, he needs to think about moments of “crisis”, such as the birth of a child, which will undoubtedly require a financial reserve from him. In this case, planning is essential.
Changing Diapers: In relation to the father, what has been done about paternity leave? The 5 days can be extended, is there any law regarding the father’s right at this very important moment of a couple?
Bia: Today there is a bill to extend the license to 15 days. We recently saw a law firm that extended the license to 30 days, and it was super noticed! We need it! More examples. I know of a company that grants 3 months to new dads, this is amazing! Only those who have had children know the importance of the father’s presence at that moment …
Changing Diapers: The pros and cons of maternity leave in Brazil according to the documentary.
Bia: We certainly have more pros than cons, when we talk about maternity delicacy. We already have a very open path with the Citizen Company program, which allows 6 months of leave, but it is still restricted because only companies in the real profit system can join. And it is still spontaneous, that is, it depends on the company wanting to. But this is a victory in itself! We need to fight so that the 6 months are mandatory for EVERYONE, after all, WHO says to breastfeed exclusively until the minimum 6 months, so how to do that?
It is important to emphasize that the issue of the film is not only the mother, nor just maternity leave. The scenario involves more parts, it is a machine that in order to work, it needs to have all the parts well adjusted, and it starts in pregnancy. Many pregnant women suffer a lot in the workplace, and NOTHING is done about it.
Then comes paternity leave, which is as important as maternity leave in my view, as it still needs to win big battles. Then comes the return to work, where the woman has no guarantee that she will not lose her job and still needs to return without being able to have a transition time. We have a lot of work to do!
Bia Siqueira, 33 years
Born and raised in a family of musicians, she graduated and began her career in architecture. Dissatisfied, she decided to invest in her more commercial vein and went on to her second degree: Administration and Marketing. project: umpraum. Umpraum was born during college, when a great friend was getting married. A company that has already transformed more than 50 life stories into personal documentaries. “Umpraum is our first daughter”.
Now, Bel and Maria’s mother, another special son is born: Excuse Me, the fruit sown from her own experience and exchanged with so many mothers, which left the need to improve the relationship between Maternity and Career nowadays.
To collaborate with the documentary project With License by Bia Siqueira, just go to the Benfeitoria website here .
See also: Shared Bed – What will it be like to have this experience?
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
