Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Catherine Martin for tabling this very important motion. It is a very important aspect of child rearing from the point of view of women, their families and their extended families in dealing with premature births. The motion proposes the a change in the current status of maternity leave for mothers of premature babies; maternity leave will begin when the baby is delivered, but an extension of maternity leave will be added for the time spent in the neonatal unit. That is a very important point of the motion.

It calls on Government to extend the period of statutory maternity leave and maternity benefit for mothers of premature babies, by the length of time between the delivery date of the baby and either the date the baby would have been delivered if full-term or the date of the baby leaving hospital, whichever is later, and that this extension be in addition to the current entitlement to 26 weeks maternity leave and maternity benefit and the additional 16 weeks unpaid maternity leave under the Maternity Acts 1994 and 2004. It also calls for an extension to the paternity leave in those circumstances.

Depending on the complications, some pre-term babies need to stay in the neonatal unit for weeks or months. This inevitably means that when a pre-term baby is discharged from the neonatal unit, the mother may have very little maternity leave left to spend with her baby at home. If a baby is born at 23 weeks, 12 to 14 weeks of the mother's maternity leave will be taken up, which would only leave ten to 12 weeks of her official maternity leave. Mothers of pre-term babies do not get to spend their full maternity leave at home with a premature baby. The figure is approximately 4,500 per year which is a very small number. This is a long-standing problem that needs to be rectified for families affected by pre-term birth.

Extensive global research has shown that maternity leave has a significant positive effect on the health and mental well-being of mothers, babies, fathers, partners, families and communities. These benefits are physical, psychological, social and economic.

Section 7 of the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2004 provides for the postponement of maternity leave in strict circumstances - if the baby is hospitalised. However, there are difficulties associated with a postponement. An employer has the right to refuse a postponement. This postponement does not take into account the mother's health status. She may not be able to return to work after surgery or illness. Mothers are actively encouraged to express breast milk for the pre-term babies and this needs to be done every two to three hours. Those circumstances must be taken into account and given specific status regarding pre-term babies.

Many pre-term babies are transferred from their local unit to one of the four tertiary neonatal units with specialised neonatal care for the tiniest and sickest pre-term babies. Most parents will leave their home following the transfer to a neonatal unit. In this situation, it is not plausible for a mother to return to work if she is miles away from her home.

The last four points of the motion are particularly important. They call on the Government to provide additional financial support, where necessary, for the families of premature babies, in relation to travel and accommodation costs, so the family unit can stay together; ensure that forms and information on maternity leave and related benefits are available in all neonatal units; publish advice for all employers about how to best support parents of premature babies; and require employers to have a policy in place for supporting parents of premature babies. It is good that the Government is accepting the motion, but the devil is in the detail. We are not talking about a hell of a lot of money in this. I hate to see the word "cost" being put in there; it is not really necessary.

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