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In his recent statement, Donald Trump called pregnant women an ‘inconvenience’ for employers and that “maybe women should feel” the pressure. Perhaps because resuming their jobs soon after their childbirth is as good as safeguarding their jobs. In a 2004 Dateline interview, the Republican nominee running for the 2016 US Presidential elections said that while bearing a child is a wonderful thing for a woman, it’s not the same (it’s rather an ‘inconvenience’) for business. The interview was concerning Carolyn Kepcher, the former executive vice president of Trump Golf Properties and a central component of his reality TV show – The Apprentice.
Apparently Ms Kepcher did not want to disclose her pregnancy to Mr Trump before six months of as she was apprehensive he might find a replacement for her or that Mr Trump might simply think that he would have to work with her for “a long nine months”. Also, she resumed her work three weeks after her child’s birth. Mr Trump said that although replacing her was an ‘interesting premise’, it would not have occurred, though it was good on her part to feel that way. Elsewhere Mr Trump also said that people have to be watchful of their paid family leaves as it predisposes the American competitiveness.
This one was with a background of a televised reality show. But what would working in real life do? Would they choose to be mum about their pregnancy for until the bump begins to show? As for the maternal leave policy, other countries outside the US seem to be doing much better in this regard with giving new mothers more paid maternity leaves and benefits. New mothers need time to heal and also nurse their babies and foster the bonding. With limited paid maternity leaves, it’s likely that women spend much time anticipating getting back to work than paying attention to their new babies.
As for the employer who might not be very pleased with his employee breaking a pregnancy news, well, the paid maternity policies have been in place for a reason. This is not purely a woman’s prerogative to go on a long leave because she believes that the organization holds the provision for the leave and respects her maternity rights. Doesn’t this mean that it is fair for a woman to expect that her employer is well-prepared for her notified disappearance for a while? ‘Inconvenience’ is not the word for a business that has mandated paid maternity policy.
I would call it an inconvenience, if a mother has no heart to come back to work because she has so grown fond of her newborn. In a situation like this, if her organization allows, she should either take a sabbatical or simply be clear about whether she would like to continue with her current role as a mother full-time. For those who are fortunate to have a social support system that can take care of her baby while she is working, it might make it a lot easier for her to return to work.
This is not it. Perhaps organizations should count the fact that six months of exclusive nursing is essential for the healthy growth of a baby. In curtailing the six months maternity allowance, aren’t organizations and policy-makers conflicting with the directives of WHO and other world health agencies that vouch for six months exclusive breastfeeding for newborns?
What Mr. Trump has in policy for working women, we would know only until the release of his official plans. But as for his oldest daughter Ivanka, who introduced her father to the stage in New York rally, she was there just ten days after giving birth to her third child. Mr. Trump admired the fact that she turned up so early on and said, “She did a good job. So I should not say Ivanka, you’re fired, right? I promise.” Speaking in North Dakota the same week, he said that he would like to see women’s health issues deriving support from profits of television networks.
