Mothers' rights
Encyclopedia
Mothers' rights movements have formed in various areas, focusing on workplace issues (labor rights
), breast-feeding, and rights in family law. A number of organisations, including the World Health Organization
(WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF), and United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA), are working to improve mother's rights and lower maternal
(and infant
) mortality around the world.
and UNICEF produced the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
(Marketing Code), the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative
, and the Innocenti Declaration (of 1990). These three actions are the international standards that many countries (over 65% of the 192 WHO member states) have enacted into their national laws. There are only nine countries in the WHO that have not taken action on the Marketing Code to give it effect. The U.S. is one of those nine. The Marketing Code is used to combat false and aggressive advertising tactics infant formula
companies use to sell formula, including giving away just enough free formula that the breastmilk of new mothers dry up, falsely telling mothers they will not be able to produce enough breast milk to breastfeed their children, and falsely advertising that formula-fed children are smarter than breastfed children. The WHO has compared the current tactics by these companies, mostly U.S. based, to the tactics that led to the Nestlé boycott
in 1977.
The year 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of the Nestlé boycott
and the 20th anniversary of the Global Safe Motherhood Conference. In October 2007, the third decennial (occurring every ten years) conference will be held, entitled "Women Deliver."
for 12 weeks is guaranteed for most employees of major companies by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
(FMLA). Flexible working hours may be arranged by individuals with no assistance from the government. Childcare can cost more than tuition at a public university. In some states (notably Pennsylvania) a woman can be turned down for a job because she is a mother. There is currently a movement towards improving this situation which is focusing on improving the situation state by state.
The National Partnership for Women & Families and other organizations have advocated for longer maternity leave and fairness in the workplace for mothers. The United States lags behind most other nations in granting paid maternity leave. Most countries guarantee paid leave, with many offering more than 3 months paid leave, the U.S. doesn't guarantee a single day of paid leave.
The U.S. has very high rates of Caesarean section
, epidural, and induction. In addition, the U.S. has large numbers of formula-fed infants (and thus lower numbers of breastfed children). The combination of these statistics has unfortunately resulted in relatively high infant and maternal mortality rates for an industrialized nation. The United States is currently rated below 35 other countries in the world in terms of infant mortality
. The U.S. has a higher infant mortality rate than the Czech Republic
, Slovenia
, Portugal
, Cuba
, Taiwan
, Aruba
, and many others, including most of Europe
.
Labor rights
Labor rights or workers' rights are a group of legal rights and claimed human rights having to do with labor relations between workers and their employers, usually obtained under labor and employment law. In general, these rights' debates have to do with negotiating workers' pay, benefits, and safe...
), breast-feeding, and rights in family law. A number of organisations, including the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
(WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II...
(UNICEF), and United Nations Population Fund
United Nations Population Fund
The United Nations Population Fund is a UN organization. The work of the UNFPA involves promotion of the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. This is done through major national and demographic surveys and with population censuses...
(UNFPA), are working to improve mother's rights and lower maternal
Maternal death
Maternal death, or maternal mortality, also "obstetrical death" is the death of a woman during or shortly after a pregnancy. In 2010, researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, estimated global maternal mortality in 2008 at 342,900 , of...
(and infant
Infant mortality
Infant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying...
) mortality around the world.
Infant formula
The WHOWho
Who may refer to:* Who , an English-language pronoun* who , a Unix command* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism- Art and entertainment :* Who? , a 1958 novel by Algis Budrys...
and UNICEF produced the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes is an international health policy framework for breastfeeding promotion adopted by the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization in 1981...
(Marketing Code), the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative
Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative
The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative , also known as “Baby Friendly Initiative” , is a worldwide programme of the World Health Organization and UNICEF, launched in 1991 following the adoption of the Innocenti Declaration on breastfeeding promotion in 1990...
, and the Innocenti Declaration (of 1990). These three actions are the international standards that many countries (over 65% of the 192 WHO member states) have enacted into their national laws. There are only nine countries in the WHO that have not taken action on the Marketing Code to give it effect. The U.S. is one of those nine. The Marketing Code is used to combat false and aggressive advertising tactics infant formula
Infant formula
Infant formula is a manufactured food designed and marketed for feeding to babies and infants under 12 months of age, usually prepared for bottle-feeding or cup-feeding from powder or liquid . The U.S...
companies use to sell formula, including giving away just enough free formula that the breastmilk of new mothers dry up, falsely telling mothers they will not be able to produce enough breast milk to breastfeed their children, and falsely advertising that formula-fed children are smarter than breastfed children. The WHO has compared the current tactics by these companies, mostly U.S. based, to the tactics that led to the Nestlé boycott
Nestlé boycott
The Nestlé boycott is a boycott launched on July 7, 1977, in the United States against the Swiss-based Nestlé corporation. It spread quickly throughout the United States, and expanded into Europe in the early 1980s. In Canada, the controversy lasted from 1978 to 1984...
in 1977.
The year 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of the Nestlé boycott
Nestlé boycott
The Nestlé boycott is a boycott launched on July 7, 1977, in the United States against the Swiss-based Nestlé corporation. It spread quickly throughout the United States, and expanded into Europe in the early 1980s. In Canada, the controversy lasted from 1978 to 1984...
and the 20th anniversary of the Global Safe Motherhood Conference. In October 2007, the third decennial (occurring every ten years) conference will be held, entitled "Women Deliver."
In the United States
In the United States, unpaid family leaveParental leave
Parental leave is an employee benefit that provides paid or unpaid time off work to care for a child or make arrangements for the child's welfare. Often, the term parental leave includes maternity, paternity, and adoption leave...
for 12 weeks is guaranteed for most employees of major companies by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is a United States federal law requiring covered employers to provide employees job-protected unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons. These reasons include personal or family illness, military service, family military leave, pregnancy,...
(FMLA). Flexible working hours may be arranged by individuals with no assistance from the government. Childcare can cost more than tuition at a public university. In some states (notably Pennsylvania) a woman can be turned down for a job because she is a mother. There is currently a movement towards improving this situation which is focusing on improving the situation state by state.
The National Partnership for Women & Families and other organizations have advocated for longer maternity leave and fairness in the workplace for mothers. The United States lags behind most other nations in granting paid maternity leave. Most countries guarantee paid leave, with many offering more than 3 months paid leave, the U.S. doesn't guarantee a single day of paid leave.
The U.S. has very high rates of Caesarean section
Caesarean section
A Caesarean section, is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver one or more babies, or, rarely, to remove a dead fetus...
, epidural, and induction. In addition, the U.S. has large numbers of formula-fed infants (and thus lower numbers of breastfed children). The combination of these statistics has unfortunately resulted in relatively high infant and maternal mortality rates for an industrialized nation. The United States is currently rated below 35 other countries in the world in terms of infant mortality
Infant mortality
Infant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying...
. The U.S. has a higher infant mortality rate than the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
, and many others, including most of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
See also
- Pregnant patients' rightsPregnant patients' rightsPregnant patients' rights refers to pregnant women's rights regarding medical care during the pregnancy and childbirth. It refers specifically to a patient's rights within a medical setting and should not be confused with pregnancy discrimination....
- Breastfeeding in publicBreastfeeding in publicBreastfeeding in public deals with the social attitudes to nursing mothers breastfeeding their babies in a public or semi-public place and to laws which either deprive them of the right or which recognize their choice to do so....
- Mom's BreastaurantMom's BreastaurantMom's Breastaurant is a US 5013 charitable organization devoted to promoting breastfeeding, particularly at public events and festivals.-History:...
- OthermotherOthermotherFor the fictional character "Other Mother", see CoralineAn othermother is a woman caring for children who are not biologically her own.- Scope :Othermothers are women, including mothers, who provide care for children who are not biologically their own...
Publications and External Links
- The Motherhood Manifesto: What America's Moms Want and What to do About It, by Joan Blades and Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, National Books, NY 2006.
- "Getting a Job: is there a motherhood penalty" by Shelley Correll http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Aug05/soc.mothers.dea.html
- "Expecting Better: A State by State Analysis of Parental Leave Programs" by Jodi Grant et al. http://paidsickdays.nationalpartnership.org/site/DocServer/ParentalLeaveReportMay05.pdf?docID=1052
- "The Work, Family and Equity Index: Where does the United States Stand Globally?" by Jody Heymann et al. [www.mcgill.ca/files/ihsp/WFEI2007FEB.pdf] [Global Working Families http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/globalworkingfamilies/]
- "Family Friendly Work Schedules" AFL-CIO http://www.aflcio.org/issues/workfamily/workschedules.cfm
- "The High Cost of Childcare puts Quality Care Out of Reach for Many Families" by Karen Schulman (Washington DC, Children's Defence Fund, 2000) http://www.childrensdefense.org/childcare/childcare/highcost.pdf
- Battered Mothers Custody Conference
- Mothers for Justice