Would you go back to work five days after giving birth?

Seems a bit extreme to me, but then again she is a cabinet minister and I´ve read she may have been in danger of being shuffled out if she had a slightly more normal maternity leave.

The point that bothers me most is that it adds to the popular belief that a Caesarean section is the easiest way to give birth, which it isn´t. Celebrity culture, with posh spice booking herself in for an elective section so she doesn´t have to deal with natural childbirth is another example. The fact is that a Caesarean is sometimes necessary and even life saving for mother and baby, but it´s not the easy option.

Aside from that, at about 5 days post delivery a woman´s hormones are completely to pot, not to mention the milk production side of things, so basically I don´t think it was a good idea.

I speak as a dad of 3, all born naturally with minimal trauma for mum, but even with the relatively easy time my wife had compared with most other people I know, she wouldn´t have been ready to work at 5 days.

I had a c section with my son due to complications and there is no way what so ever i would or could have gone back to work. I was still on strong medication and still in some pain 2-3 weeks after the surgery. Aside from that who would want to leave their new precious bundles of joy so soon?

i would not advise 5 days a week i did and soon realised it was far too much i was exhausted snappy and had very little time with my son.If you really want to get back to work go part time that is what i did and it works well.

Quite frankly it was an idiotic thing to do. She wasn´t helping her body or her new baby in this way, and if she had been ´shuffled´ out because of it she would have made a good and popular case aginst what would have been unfair discrimination. But in reality surely your kids come before your ambition?

I´d like to know what was the legal-business-insurance side to it?

I would have thought her doctors would have advised strongly against it, so in this case shouldn´t her employers have said she couldn´t come back until her doctors had said it was safe for her to do so? I mean, with a C-section she´d still have stiches or staples in woudldn´t she?

Would she be covered by the employee insurance policy?

As a mother to two children, the first three months to me were and still are the most important bonding time with my children. I feel that this time is precious for the parents, but just as precious for the baby to build that connection with you. I would wholly advise against going back to work any earlier than three months, or longer if possible. It is a time to be cherished and something you can not rectify at a later date.

I wonder about the ethics of this question. Is it our business? No. Do we know enough facts to make informed comments? No. Have we any information confirming that Ms Dati was ´so desperate to get back to work´ or indeed how long she stayed there? It is neither kind nor intellectually honest to be so gratuitously condemnatory.

And I wonder about people who wonder about the ethics of questions like these. No one is slating the woman herself, this is more based on the more general view of going back to work five days after giving birth, she just happens to be a good, prominent example.

I haven´t had children yet, some day I hope to, but I know my older sister had to have a c section last year, there were complications with her trying to give birth naturally, as was to be expected with any of the women in our family giving birth. I saw her in the hospital the day after her c section, she looked absolutely awful and I could tell she felt much much worse than that. But there is no way she would have gone back to work five days after giving birth in any fashion - she simply would not have managed it! In fact, her little girls (she had twins) are now about nine months old and I think she is STILL at home, and I commend her for that. She´s seeing some of the best time in those kids lives, rather than missing it all by going straight back to work.

So no, I would not have gone back to work five days after giving birth, especially since I would have the same complications my mum and my sister did and I´d probably have to have a c section too. I already have plenty health problems and it takes me a long time to recover frrom anything, even the common cold. I think this woman no matter how she truly felt about her situation, or what pressures were around her, made an inherently bad choice by going back to work five days after. There is nothing on this earth that can justify putting your job before your children. And anyone who thinks they CAN produce a good enough reason, well, I welcome them to put it forth to this forum, and see if it can stand up against those mothers who have posted so far, and the dads who have posted so far who have watched their wives/girlfriends go through childbirth!

My eldest niece had her first child last year and there is no way she could have gone back to work a mere 5 days later. Her blood pressure was very high for several days after giving birth, though it is now back down to normal. She has just gone back to work on a part time basis so she is able to spend the afternoons with her daughter, who is already starting to walk on her own at a bit under a year old.

That reminds me - I must buy a birthday card for her tomorrow.

Alan

It all depends which is more precious,your child or your job.

My mums waters broke with her 3rd child when she was mucking out the pigs - the midwife was trying to get her into an ambulance but she said, ´not until I finish these pigs!´ same when she gave birth to me but with the dishes. I dont think there is a problem with working so quickly after so long as your children are around, like working around the house or garden. But not rushing back to the office.
I think the ultimate worst faux pas is NOT BREASTFEEDING women just make me mad when they dont (not cant i understand that). Again my mum breastfed all 5 of us, and three of us when she has mastitus in both breasts - thats why we´re all tall slim and brainy!