Maternity Leave, Mental Health, and Why It Matters

In March, as International Women’s Month invites us to celebrate women’s achievements, it also asks us to look honestly at the systems shaping women’s lives, especially during their most vulnerable transitions. That into motherhood. Few moments are as profound, disorienting, and mentally taxing as the weeks and months after giving birth. And few policies have as much power to protect or harm a woman’s mental health as maternity leave.

When a baby arrives, time fractures. Days blur into nights, bodies heal slowly, hormones surge, and identity quietly reshapes itself. Yet in many places, this transformation is rushed and barely tolerated. The experience is compressed into a handful of unpaid or partially paid weeks, tethered to the looming pressure of returning to work. The message, however unintended, is clear: recover quickly, adjust quietly, and don’t fall behind.

But around the world, there are different stories being written. Stories that recognize maternity leave not as a perk, but as a public health and equity issue.

What Country Supported Maternity Leave Can Look Like

In countries like Norway and Sweden, generous, highly paid parental leave allows families to breathe. Mothers are given the space to physically recover and emotionally bond with their babies without the constant hum of financial anxiety. 

Just as importantly, these policies are designed to be shared. When a portion of leave is reserved for the other parent, caregiving becomes a shared responsibility, not a default burden placed on women. This shared model doesn’t just support mothers’ mental health. It reshapes norms, strengthens partnerships, and reduces the long-term career penalties women so often face.

Elsewhere, Bulgaria’s extended paid maternity leave underscores a powerful truth: time is medicine. Adequate leave lowers stress, reduces the risk of postpartum depression, and supports healthier outcomes for both parent and child.

Companies Are Taking Notice and Making Changes

Some of the most compelling examples, however, come from the workplace itself. Companies like Netflix have reimagined what trust-based maternity leave can look like, offering unlimited paid leave during the first year after a child’s birth. Others, like Ally Financial and Xero, focus on flexibility. They slow phase in returning to work with reduced schedules and “keeping in touch” days that help parents transition back without feeling abandoned or overwhelmed.

These models succeed because they acknowledge something essential: mental health doesn’t snap back on a set timeline. Healing, bonding, and adjustment are not linear processes. Flexibility allows parents to remain connected to their professional identities while honoring the reality of new parenthood.

Supporting Parents Helps Companies and Countries Alike

During International Women’s Month, it’s worth asking what it truly means to support women. Celebration without structural support rings hollow. When maternity leave is generous, paid, flexible, and shared, it sends a powerful message: women’s health matters, caregiving has value, and families are stronger when supported rather than strained.

The most successful maternity leave policies don’t just help mothers return to work—they help women return to themselves. And that, in March and beyond, is worth fighting for.