Major benefits to New Zealand health from Paid Parental Leave

The cost of making the parental payment to a breastfeeding mother for six months would be significantly less than the ongoing costs of poorer health outcomes that can arise when children are not able to be breastfed because mothers have to go back to work.

The New Zealand Breastfeeding Alliance (NZBA) has delivered this strong statement to the Government Administration Select Committee as it considers thePaid Parental Leave Bill, which would extend paid parental leave to 26 weeks.

“The latest Ministry of Health statistics show that from three months to six months there is a dramatic drop in breastfeeding and a rise in the use of substitutes. At the same time, the Ministry has released information that shows we have the third worst obesity rate in the OECD.

“The financial need for a mother to return to work is constantly reported as a barrier for women to continue breastfeeding,” said Executive Officer of the New Zealand Breastfeeding Alliance, Julie Stufkens, who also represents all industrialised nations on several World Health Organisation (WHO) initiatives.

“The Bill recognises the importance of breastfeeding as the biological norm and supports families to continue to exclusively breastfeed.”

“This legislation would also put New Zealand in line with other OECD countries, as we now have one of the lowest rates of paid parental leave in this group. But 26 weeks or longer would show the importance of caring for infants and children in New Zealand to ensure a healthier future for our country”

Ms Stufkens cited the current New Zealand infant feeding data that shows exclusive breastfeeding rates drop dramatically after three months – and the effects that has on the health of the baby, mother and society as a whole.

Julie Stufkens also referred to a number of international studies that demonstrated breastfed babies were less likely to become obese and suffer from related diseases.

“A recent study of around 32,000 Scottish infants found those who are breastfed are less likely to suffer childhood obesity than their bottle fed counterparts, while in the US, the results of the largest-ever study into infant weight gain, found that early infancy constitutes a critical period for the establishment of obesity.”

“Substituting breastmilk too early with solid food or formula was a factor that predisposed infants to obesity,” Ms Stufkens said.

Research into changes to Paid Parental Leave in Australia found that both babies and mothers’ mental as well as physical health benefited from a longer period together. In Canada, following an extension in the time for paid parental leave, exclusive breastfeeding rates at six months increased by nearly forty per cent.

“This Bill is only part of the work needed to help improve our nations support, protection and promotion for breastfeeding, Ms Stufkens said.

“But it’s an extremely important step that research shows is likely to lead to healthier New Zealanders and less costs to the health system.”

ENDS

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