College of Midwives Statement - Delighted the Govt has passed PPL into legislation

1 December 2017

The following can be attributed to the NZ College of Midwives Chief Executive, Karen Guilliland:

The NZ College of Midwives is delighted that the Government has passed legislation to extend Paid Parental Leave (PPL) to 22 weeks, from July 1, 2018. It will be extended to a full 26 weeks by July 1, 2020.

This is excellent news for mums and newborns. The transition to motherhood and establishing breastfeeding takes significant time for most of us, and is currently a struggle for so many women who cannot afford to take time off work.

Parenting is incredibly rewarding and also a challenge in today's world. It is one of the most profound life changing events we experience.

Midwives are delighted with the coalition governments’ commitment to supporting this important time in the life of a new mum and her family, helping to make things easier for them.

New Zealand’s current paid parental leave entitlement of 18 weeks is one of the lowest in the OECD, with the average number of weeks of paid leave to mothers among OECD countries being 48 weeks.

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