Maternity Protection Resource Package. From Aspiration to Reality for All.
Healthy pregnancies and healthy newborn children, combined with a measure of economic security, are an aspiration for all working mothers. Maternity protection at work supports this aspiration. Its goals are twofold: 1) to ensure that a woman’s economic activities do not pose risks to the health of the woman and her child, and 2) to ensure that women’s reproductive roles do not compromise the economic security of their households.
Maternity protection at work encompasses a host of different components ranging from maternity leave, health protection and non-discrimination to social protection and breastfeeding.Principles and rights related to maternity protection at work have been embedded in three Conventions on maternity protection of the International Labour Organization (ILO). These rights are also firmly established in a host of international treaties relating to human rights, women’s rights, rights to health, and the rights of the child. Almost every nation echoes these commitments in its national legislation.
- Training, certification and professionalization
