What if companies had reverence for new mothers?

I met a woman last week who went back to work three weeks after she had her baby.

THREE WEEKS! 

This had me thinking:

A lot of our social issues, especially in the US, are due to the fact that we do not prioritize the relationship of a new mother and child. Then we wonder why people are insecurely attached and have poor regulation of their emotions and nervous systems. 

Honestly, thinking about businesses that profit from mothers returning to work ASAP makes me sick. I think about all that people are being asked to hold and how this drive for excessive materialism, as well as the high cost of living, have people unable to be present with their children. (In turn, these children become adults who can't be present with themselves.)

The world is overwhelming. That's likely always been true. And the systems feed themselves: Sick culture, sick food supply, insert pharma, insert survival response and chronic cortisol, insert more pharma.

When does it stop?

What would it be like if companies had reverence for new mothers? If instead of exploiting and extracting more productivity and the need for mothers to come back ASAP, companies paid them their full salary for a year?

I asked myself this the first time I had an employee go on maternity leave. And despite the increased cost and the impact on the bottom line, it was an easy answer for me: Mothers need to feel supported. (And fathers, if that's the context for you.)

I wanted her to know she was taken care of. I didn't want her to have to think about money so that she and her husband could focus on each other and their new child. I wanted to see how that impacted not only the employee and their environment but also the company's culture.

Not surprisingly, it created a collective exhale of the recognition of the importance of having support. It is the business expression of unconditional love. 

This is not generosity. This is, in my opinion, how it should be. It takes pressure off the family. It takes pressure off the mother. It models a secure attachment to the employee and family and, in turn, the mother's attachment to the child. It helps regulate all their nervous systems and the collective nervous system of the family.

I recognize that most big businesses will likely never make this change unless mandated, as many large organizations are founded on the extraction and exploitation of employees and the planet.

For small and medium-sized businesses, there's an opportunity here to deepen our reverence for the family and community. My employees are some of my favourite people in the world... I would do anything for them. It is imperative to me that they feel unconditionally supported, loved, and if they journey down the path of creating children, this family (our company) is here for them.

Community and village must be built. Businesses have always been part of both, and it's important we bring that back.

Much love,

Mark