When a baby is born it depends exclusively on his mother, it is all he needs from the biological and emotional point of view. But the role of the father in this period is also fundamental, although unfortunately there are still few countries that have equal or more or less equal periods of loss for the mother and the father.
The father is a great support for the mother in the puerperium and her presence is very important for the baby from the emotional. Spending more time with him favors the emotional bond between them. For the father it is a privilege, but without a doubt the real beneficiaries of paternity leave are the children.
Although she cannot breastfeed, her role is very important so that the mother can breastfeed without stress, she can also take care of the baby while the mother rests, change diapers or walk with the baby, take care of the house, and cook or clean while she It is dedicated to the newborn. Not to mention your much needed support if there are also older children to attend to.
But there is still a long way to go to make it ideal. A review by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) analyzed longitudinal studies of children born in the United States, Australia, Great Britain and Denmark, four countries that, although enjoying similar standards of living, have large differences in this aspect. .
In Denmark, 99% of parents took at least one week off when their child was born, and 90% did so for more than two weeks. In the United States, where parents are not entitled to paternity leave, it took less than a week and two thirds were back at work before their baby was two weeks old.
A year later, when assessing the involvement of parents in parenting. Five out of ten parents who had taken paternity leave claimed to change diapers daily, compared to four out of ten who had not taken those days. Too they were more likely to feed them dress them, bathe them and play with their children.
When the father participates in these daily habits from an early age and is involved in the care of the newborn, he is more likely to do so also during the first year of life, and even during childhood. In Britain, for example, parents who had taken a few days at birth were almost a third more likely to read books with their young children than those who had not.
It is still too early to know the long-term effects of paternity leave, however, a Norwegian study found that improved high school performance. The daughters, above all, seemed to prosper more if their parents had taken it.
