Advice: Good, Bad, or Indifferent
Testimonials, public opinion polls, and skewed statistical information are all trademarks of getting people interested in a product or service, however, there is also the person, organization, or group that want to give advice on how something should be done, and have absolutely no evidence to back it up. These people uses their own experiences, or do a survey of a specific group, such as readers of a woman’s magazine, to get their data, which is definitely not representative of the population.
One such explosion in advice is the people and groups who want to help women go back to work, or even decide to go back to work after the birth of a child. All will state that it is not always feasible to the mother to quit work, but that it could be considered with just looking at a few things in the parent(s) life (Deciding to work after baby is born, n.d.; Duursma, 2006). First is the fact that many women and some men who do not have the option of quitting work to stay home with baby, especially now with the economic crises. Even some of those parents, who had decided to stay home are in tight crunches financially that both parents now need to work (Deciding to work after baby is born, n.d.; Duursma, 2006; Getting back to work after childbirth, n.d.).
Returning to wok is one of the hardest things a parent will have to do. The advice given on the best plan to return to work varies as much as the parenting styles of people. While some groups talk about communicating with your company and slowly returning to work by leaving the baby with the childcare provider for short periods to start, is not always a viable option (Getting back to work after childbirth, n.d.). Other groups focus on the parents communications with the childcare provider, but nothing about their jobs (Duursma, 2006). Many parents have to return to work on a scheduled day 6 to 8 weeks after the birth. This gives little time to slowly integrate this new person in the infants life, and even a shorter time to find a provider that is on the same page as the parents. The fact is that no one really focuses on the average person and their hardship and struggle when returning to work.
The best thing that could be done in this field topic is an empirical study of women and men in all socioeconomic backgrounds in relation to how they have dealt or decided to return to work after a baby. Some parents will always have a choice or options, but the majority will not and this is the group that really needs to understand the implications of returning to work in regard to the mental and physical health of their child. If more research was put forth along with the advice, parents would be able to make a better informed decision or feel better about returning to work without the guilt and anxiety of differing bits of advice.
References
Deciding To Work After Baby is Born. (2009). Retrieved March 24, 2009 from Family Education:
http://life.familyeducation.com/working-parents/baby/50551.html?detoured=1
Duursma, R. (2006). A Parent’s Guilt of Returning to Work After Baby. Retrieved March 24, 2009 from Associated Content: Information from the source. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/22517/a_parents_guilt_of_returning_to_ work.html?cat=25.
Getting Back to Work After Childbirth. (2009). Retrieved March 24, 2009 from Baby Care: I Love India. http://babycare.iloveindia.com/changing-lifestyle/financial-planning.html.