Examining the impact of a change in maternity leave policy in Canada on maternal mental health care visits to the physician.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Maternity leave is a critical employee benefit that allows mothers to recover from the stress of pregnancy and childbirth and bond with their new baby. We aimed to examine the association between the extension of a maternity leave policy and maternal use of mental health services and prescription drugs in a universal public healthcare system.

Methods

This study uses administrative medical records from 18,000 randomly selected women who gave birth three months before and after an extension of the maternity leave policy. More specifically, mothers who gave birth after January 1st 2001, were entitled to 50 weeks of paid maternity leave, while mothers who gave birth before that date were entitled to only 26 weeks of paid maternity leave. Medical records were analyzed ove

SUBMITTER: Larose MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11405480 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature