Pregnancy comes with a lot of stress and demand, Many times people think it's the woman alone that undergoes the stress and challenges that come with pregnancy, Although in the physical aspect such as hormonal changes, increase in size and weight they are right. But when it comes to the man, the man shares a part in the emotional and mental stress as well. The mind of the man is not at rest, he too goes through a lot of mental and psychological stress right through the process of pregnancy.
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When it's time for the delivery, most times, it's the man who runs errands and caters for the wife during the process of delivery. It's not always easy to behold your pregnant wife during labour. Recently, I watched a video clip of a woman in the labour room who was in the process of delivery, her husband was with her in the labour room and as soon as his wife pushed out the baby, he couldn't withstand the sight anymore, he fainted immediately馃槀馃槀. The nurses had to rush him out of the labour room immediately.
Imagine if such a man is asked to resume work the next day, how do you expect him to be productive at work after going through such trauma? I think we need to be fair on the men as well. Many will give an excuse that the man is not the one carrying the baby for nine months nor is he going to go through the labour process. Yes, they are right. But yet the mental and emotional state of mind of the man is at stake here. He too needs some time to recover in other to discharge his duties at work properly.
You don't expect a destabilized man to be effective at work. Just as the woman needs maternity leave, the man as well needs a paternity leave too. He must be healed emotionally and mentally in other to think right and be effective at work.
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Fatherhood comes with a lot of demands and responsibilities, It takes a whole man to be able to carry out these duties without affecting his work or job negatively.
When adjusting to the phase of fatherhood, it comes with a lot of demands like sleepless nights, assisting the woman in caring for the baby, Running errands, and assisting in household chores. I believe the man needs paternity leave as well so as to adjust to the new phase and also to help him be productive whenever he resumes work.
Although many employers see no reason to offer paternity leave to the man, but in my opinion I believe it will be a good thing if paternity leave is given to men as well. It will assist the men to be more focused and productive when they resume back to work. Even though the leave might be quite short compare to the women, but I still believe this will go a long way in assisting a man in resting and putting him in the right state of mind so as to discharge his duties appropriately whenever he resumes back to work.
