Many educated women today will frown on the idea that “A
woman’s place or office is the kitchen”.
In fact, there have been vigorous campaigns aimed at erasing that notion
to replace it with one that says: “what a man can do a woman can do even better”.
The world’s attention is drawn to equality for the male
and female child, and in fact many support the need for affirmative action in
favour of women’s development since gender activists believe women are mostly
disadvantaged in many areas.
However, biologically, men and women are different; women
menstruate, give birth, breastfeed and are naturally skewed toward taking care
of children emotionally.
These biological roles that women have tend to limit them
in one way or another -- hence the need for affirmative action.
Affirmative action can also be referred to as positive
discrimination, and means a policy or a law that favours a section of the
population.
In Ghana, one thing that limits women in terms of
progress in their career is childbirth. When a woman gives birth she needs
rest; and she needs to breastfeed the child exclusively for six months.
Perhaps that is why the Ghana Medical Association is
advocating a six-month maternity leave for women.
Members of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) in
November last year called for the review of labour laws to grant mothers six
months of maternity leave, and the mandatory establishment of nurseries in all
public and private institutions.
They said exclusive breastfeeding among all working
nursing mothers must be encouraged, and health facilities in the country be made
to ensure they are baby-friendly.
The above concerns were in a communiqué the GMA issued
and was signed by the GMA President Dr. Kwabena Opoku-Adusei and General
Secretary Dr. Frank Serebour at the end of the 54th annual general conference
of the Association held in Cape Coast.
The communiqué noted that given the proven benefits of
six months of exclusive breastfeeding to new-borns, the GMA calls for an increase
in the current three-month maternity leave to six months -- stressing that it is
especially relevant as some mothers are asked to start their maternity leave
six weeks prior to delivery.
In Ghana, most institutions now give a three-month
maternity leave -- after which mothers apply for their annual leave, and that
pushes them to about four-and-a–half months.
Many organisations may argue that they cannot be paying
someone for a whole six months when the person is actually “not working”: in
fact, some private institutions tend to sack female workers once they start
giving birth.
The argument is, at that point in the female’s life, they
are not productive commercially -- so which money should be used to pay them?
However, the big question that we have to ask ourselves
as a country is whether we are projecting into the future at all. “They young
shall grow,” was an answer a friend gave me when discussing this issue.
Do we see the new-borns as a human resource for the
country? Would it not be better if mothers had the time to nurture their young
ones and invest in their brain-development, which would eventually ensure good
human resource development for the country?
A politician once remarked that a good source of
investment for any country is to invest in its human resource development,
because at the end of the day -- no matter the level of the economy, no matter
the infrastructure -- it is the human beings that make a nation.
The GMA also advocates a mandatory establishment of
nurseries in organisations to allow nursing mothers to breastfeed infants during
their breastfeeding breaks. It sounds like a dream: breastfeeding breaks?
One may argue that there are day-care centres springing
up all over the place and these days they even admit three-months olds; that is
true, but there are also horrifying stories associated with that development.
A couple shared their experience of how before they sent
little Akua to school she was active, cried a lot, fed well and was a really
happy baby -- and how little Akua changed to be dull, not feed well and was
sick almost all the time.
According to the couple, they found out that Akua was
given a sedative at the day-care centre every day to keep her calm: horrifying
indeed!
Some even share stories of house-helps giving their
children alcohol to put them to sleep so that they “can be free”. Oh, where is our conscience as a nation? What
have these little ones done to deserve such maltreatment? Are we thinking of
human resource development? Indeed, the young shall grow.
The Ghana Medical Association said -- given the current
under-five mortality rate of 80 deaths per 1,000 live births and the country’s
target of 40 deaths per 1000 lives by 2015 -- it is imperative for all
stakeholders, policymakers, managers, development partners and health
professionals to rededicate themselves to improve care for children under five;
adding that the improved care must span the entire continuum of care, from
conception through delivery and post-period to the fifth year of life.
Where are the women activists? Where are the female
parliamentarians? Is Nana Oye Lithur, Minister of Gender, Children and Social
Protection, watching? What about our dear First Lady, Mrs. Lordina Mahama?
Can’t we have laws that ensurethat women have at least six months maternity
leave and also see to the establishment of nurseries in all workplaces?
Are women their own enemies? Because sometimes it is the
female bosses who say “I went through the same bitter experience and so my
fellow-female must also do same”.
Yesi Jones, a Ghanaian living in Canada said: “In Canada,
no one will admit a six-month old baby to school”. She said mothers are given a
whole year of maternity leave, with pay.
She further explains that in Canada the safety, health
and security of a baby is key, and no one would dare want to give a female
employee only six months of maternity leave; it would be criminal, she
stressed.
In Ghana 40% of under-five deaths and 60% of infant
deaths happen in the neonatal age group, and the GMA is saying that it is
important for all stakeholders to pay more attention to new-borns that are
dying primarily from neonatal sepsis, prematurity and asphyxia.
The Medical Association therefore advised doctors to take
a more proactive leadership role, whether as clinicians or as public health
physicians, to improve under-five care and to generate innovative and cost-effective
change ideas.
This writer believes giving our babies a good start in
life goes a long way to affect their personalities in adulthood. Perhaps we have to conclude that granting
reasonable maternity leave to mothers and human resource development are two
sides of the same coin.
source: B&FT
