Babies in the Workplace

couldn't afford day care. It was either let the mother bring in her baby or find a replacement for her. Their perspective was that, even if the parent got only half the work done, that was still more than if she wasn't there. That parent brought her baby back starting at about 3 weeks after birth, and it worked out just fine.

Shannon Cummins explained that when Health Newsletters was still small, they couldn't afford to give employees three months of paid maternity leave. Also, as a result of being small, they "did not have a lot of people who could step in when a parent was out for [even] six weeks with a new baby." Allowing parents to bring their babies to work solved both problems.

Brent Roper said that, before the National Association of Insurance Commissioners implemented its baby program:

   Everyone was taking twelve weeks off.
   The average now is eight weeks and
   sometimes only six. People come back
   sooner.

   Some mothers decide to quit their jobs when their babies are a few weeks or months old. A mother's perspective often completely changes after she has a baby; after only a week or two, it seems impossible to remember what life was like without her baby, and her world basically revolves around her child. Many women find it difficult to imagine leaving their child to return to the job world, especially while their babies are still so tiny and helpless. Women are biologically programmed to stay close to their babies during those early months; everything in their being is
telling them to hold and nurture this little being.