A new mother's lament

by Fairfield Champion

I'VE been doing it tough for the past couple of weeks: sleepless nights, one meal a day, often in the wee hours after baby's midnight feed, early wake-ups and late bed-times.

The reason? It was my return to the workforce after a 10-month sojourn.

The first week wasn't so bad, but in the second I was feeling the full force of being a working mother of an eight-month-old baby.

Even though I'm in a two-parent household and managing a full-time job, baby requires army-precision planning and multi-skilling that would make an octopus proud.

How does a working single parent cope?
I may sound resentful towards having to return to work but, on the contrary, my gripe is with the Government's policy on maternity leave - or lack thereof.

Did you know that Australia is one of five countries that does not offer paid maternity leave?
Apparently, Bangladeshi and Guatemalan mothers are better off.

In The Netherlands, paid maternity leave is 16 weeks, while lucky British lasses get up to 39 weeks.

Feel ripped off?
For this federal election, I have yet to hear any party prioritising this issue of a mother's basic right.

Like most other mothers, my financial situation does not allow me to stay home and raise my child to the age where it's not so heart-breaking to leave them to return to work.

Even though I had 10 months' leave, thanks to our government's non-pay policy, we were financially strained at best.

So until the Government has a change of heart it's "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go" - reluctantly and resentfully.