Parliament puts mothers in a better position after complications during childbirth
Published: Thursday, Feb 29th 2024, 16:31
Updated At: Thursday, Feb 29th 2024, 16:31
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If a woman has to stay in hospital longer due to complications during childbirth, this should be taken into account appropriately in the duration of maternity leave in future. On Thursday, the National Council, as the second chamber, adopted a corresponding motion by the Council of States' Social Security and Health Committee (SGK-S).
The upper chamber approved the proposal by 136 votes to 50 with three abstentions. The Council of States had already adopted it in the 2023 summer session.
The Federal Council agreed with the motion. It must now draw up a proposal for implementation. The text of the motion gives it some leeway: it states that the federal government should examine various options for implementing the request.
Since 2021, mothers have been entitled to an extended maternity allowance in the event of a longer hospital stay for their newborn child, the SGK-S wrote in the explanatory memorandum to its motion. In contrast, a longer hospital stay of the mother after the birth is not specifically regulated. This unequal treatment should be eliminated.
This argument was supported by a clear majority of the National Council's Social Security and Health Committee (SGK-N). The majority spokesperson Mattea Meyer (SP/ZH) said that the situations were ultimately comparable, for example in terms of the relationship between mother and child.
With its proposal, the Health Committee of the Council of States took up the concerns of a cantonal initiative from the canton of Vaud, albeit in a more general form. The initiative itself was rejected by the National Council on Thursday. The Council of States had already rejected it last June. It is now off the table.
An SVP minority in the National Council's preliminary consultation committee unsuccessfully requested that the committee motion from the Council of States also be rejected. However, it was not successful.
Andreas Glarner (SVP/AG) said on behalf of the minority that mothers were already sufficiently protected by the current provisions, for example with regard to continued salary payments.
©Keystone/SDA
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