The reason for the petition is as follows:

‘In light of the recent outbreak and lock down, those on maternity leave should be given 3 extra months paid leave, at least. This time is for bonding and social engaging with other parents and babies through baby groups which are vital for development and now everything has been cancelled.

These groups are vital for baby development, bonding and educating both babies and parents. Given that the government have closed down many areas of the community new parents and babies are confined to their homes with no social interaction which will ultimately impact on the development of children.

We are calling on Boris Johnson and the government to extend paid maternity leave by an additional 3 months, at least to allow for this development and bonding to take place.’

The UK House of Commons have said they are now looking into the matter and have asked for feedback from mums who are currently on maternity leave.

The Petitions Committee is investigating a petition calling for maternity leave to be extended in light of Covid-19.

It wants to hear your experiences to inform its work – the deadline to leave your comments is Monday 4th May.

They want to know:

‘Are you currently on maternity leave, adoption leave or shared parental leave? How has the lock down affected your experience?

Do you think that maternity leave should be extended because of coronavirus? What else do you think the Government could do to support those on maternity leave during the lock down?’

You can share your thoughts on the post by following the link to the post below.

So what do you think? 

Let us know your thoughts on the everything in the comments!