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 That translates into eight infant deaths averted for every 1,000
births.
Earlier studies have linked paid time off after birth with lower
infant mortality rates in affluent nations, but the current study
offers the first look at how paid leave may influence survival for
babies in less wealthy countries, researchers report in the journal
PLoS Medicine.
“Our findings suggest that extending the duration of paid maternity
leave is a potential instrument for reducing infant mortality in
low- and middle-income countries, particularly those that offer
shorter durations of leave, and achieving global targets to
eliminate preventable child deaths,” said lead study author Arijit
Nandi, a health and social policy researcher at McGill University in
Montreal.
Paid leave is connected to a range of health benefits for mothers
and babies including reduced rates of postpartum depression, more
breastfeeding and increased follow-through with routine infant
checkups and immunizations, previous research has shown. Fathers,
too, stand to gain, with some research suggesting they develop
stronger bonds with their children when they’re paid to stay home.
For the current study, Nandi and colleagues examined data on about
300,000 children born over eight years in 20 low-income and
developing nations across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
They combined health statistics for the children with information on
government maternity leave policies in each country.
On average, about 55 in every 1,000 babies died during the study
period. Mortality during what’s known as the neonatal period, or the
first month of life, was about 31 babies per 1,000 births. From age
2 months to 1 year, the mortality rate was about 23 babies per
1,000.
Reductions in infant mortality associated with longer paid maternity
leave primarily happened after the first month of life.
The study can’t prove that paid leave directly lowers infant
mortality, although the results do account for individual, household
and country-level characteristics, the authors note.
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One limitation of the analysis is that researchers relied on mothers
to recall the timing of births and deaths of children who weren’t
alive at the time they provided data for the study. The research
team also looked only at government leave policies, which may not
always reflect the amount of paid time off women actually received.
Among countries that account for 95 percent of maternal and child
deaths, just one third reached last year’s Millennium Development
Goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds, the authors write.
Worldwide, more than 180 countries guarantee some type of paid leave
for new mothers, though the U.S. isn’t among them, they note.
Leave policies are becoming more generous for some workers who live
in U.S. states that require paid time off or who work for companies
with generous paid time-off benefits.
This week, for example, Twitter said all its employees will soon
qualify for five months of paid leave. Last year, Facebook announced
that all employees worldwide would get four months of paid parental
leave, and Netflix said it would offer up to one year of paid leave
after the birth or adoption of a child.
Last week, New York became the fifth state to mandate paid leave,
passing a budget agreement giving most employees in the state up to
four months off after the birth, adoption or fostering of a child,
or to care for a sick relative. New York joins California, New
Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington. San Francisco this week became
the first U.S. city to guarantee new parents paid time off.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1UAjJ7K PLoS Medicine, online March 29, 2016.
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