Switzerland grapples with how to help both parents take time off work for the family
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Two Swiss government commissions are pushing for parental leave, saying that existing legislation for maternity leave as well as the limited cantons’ laws and company policies that provide paternity leave are inadequate.
But the office for women’s rights (CFQF) differs significantly, in terms of the amount of time off, from the federal commission for family questions, COFF.
They insist, pointing to examples in other countries, that for both parents to play their full role in family life parental leave must be remunerated and must apply to both men and women.
The COFF has recommended to the Federal Council that parental leave should be remunerated for four weeks, for both mother and father, without the possibility of transferring the leave. Parental leave should have a maximum of 24 weeks.
The CFQF, however, argues that 24 weeks is the absolute minimum for total time off, and that the law should mandate that leave must be equally shared by both parents.
The main difference between the two is the insistence by the CFQF, based on the experience of other countries, to proscribe equal sharing of parental leave, as the only way to free up fathers to take time off from work and to encourage employers to allow fathers to do so.
UK law on parental leave, for comparison
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The World Health Organization in Geneva insists that its 10-year-old worldwide guidelines encouraging mothers to exclusively breastfeed babies for six months still stand.
The WHO issued a statement after the BMJ (British Medical Journal) published a study 14 January questioning the wisdom of applying the guidelines in developed as well as developing countries.
Britain adoped the WHO guidelines in 2003 but two years later only 1 percent of parents were following the guidelines, according to the BMJ study authors.
They agree that “substantial evidence indicates that early nutrition has profound implications for long term health, by programming aspects of subsequent cognitive function, obesity, risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and atopy”, but they argue that the WHO guidelines should be reviewed again in the light of new evidence.
They point in particular to a December 2009 Scientific Opinion (review of current literature) published by the European Food Safety Authority Journal.
Geneva setting record for number of babies born
Mother and baby, Lake Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva’s HUG (university hospitals) expects to end 2010 with 4,010 births recorded, and by noon 31 December the number was at 4,006, reports ats/TSR.
The number is the highest ever, at Swtizerland’s largest maternity hospital, with the news agency explaining the boom by saying women are having more children, the city’s population is growing, and more women are opting for lower cost insurance coverage and skipping private or semi-private care.
Update 20:00 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – Monday, a retired woman in Excenevex, near Yvoire on Lake Geneva in Haute Savoie, France, found the mummified body of a newborn in a backpack that had been left on the property of her second home, under stairs protected by a balcony.
The Lyon resident found the backpack in mid-July, reports Le Dauphine Libéré, but assumed it belonged to someone in her family and she didn’t immediately check the contents. When she and her daughter looked 26 July, they found a newborn wrapped in a towel, several days old and mummified by the heat. Police have opened an investigation.
The discovery of the newborn was eclipsed somewhat by the spectacular unearthing of newborns’ bones in northern France.
Max the stork's new babies, April 2010 (photo, ©H Buergermeister)
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Max the banded white stork, the world’s longest satellite-tracked animal, had four young birds 20-12 April at her annual nesting place at Tuefingen, near the Swiss-German border.
The parents, migrant birds who have now met up in southern Germany every spring for nine years to nest together, have been busy caring for the little ones.
Observers spotted four newborns in the nest Monday 26 April when the parents stepped up to spread their wings and shade the little ones because the weather had turned warm.
The babies hatch a month after the eggs are laid but it is difficult to check on the number of babies in the nest, or even the eggs, because the parents take turns keeping them warm during the month before the eggs hatch.
Max the stork's new babies, April 2010 (photo, ©H Buergermeister)
The father, Max’s partner for several years, has been carrying water to the young birds in his beak and letting it drizzle into their open beak.
Max’s travels and nestings on GenevaLunch
Links to other sites: Fribourg Museum of Natural History on Facebook and Max’s history (Fre)
Click on images to view larger
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – What a year for the Roger Federer family, first the long-awaited big win at Wimbledon for the Swiss tennis champion and now future doubles champions warming up, with the arrival of twin daughters! Mirka Federer gave birth to the girls Thursday: Charlene Riva and Myla Rose are fine, the father says on his web site (so far, only in German).
The couple met in 2000 when both played at the Sydney Olympics. Mirka, who emigrated to Switzerland as a young girl, is 31 and Roger is 27.
Background: “Federer takes title in epic win”, 5 July 2009 GenevaLunch
photo © 2009 H Buergermeister
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The family of Max, the Swiss white stork that has been tracked by the Natural History Museum of Fribourg for the past 10 years, is growing up: the three offspring born 20 April near the German-Swiss border are learning to fly.
Max the white stork and partner, 2009 (photo ©H Buergermeister)
Tuefingen/Salem, Germany (GenevaLunch) – Max the white stork has a new family, with little heads popping above the top of the nest where the 10-year-old mother has been sitting on her eggs. For the time being the number of new little ones is unknown, but between 2002 and 2009 Max has given birth to 20 offspring. She was born in May 1999 near Avenches, in Switzerland, but she and her regular partner meet up and build a nest each spring on the north side of Lake Constance.
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss population grew by 1.4% in 2008, to 7.7 million people, according to provisional figures released by the federal statistical office. The 1,800 weddings on 08.08.08 played a role in the higher number of marriages, part of the population change figures released.
CNN reports that the mother in the US who gave birth to eight healthy babies earlier this week has six other children ranging in age from two to seven. The family is still asking to have its privacy respected but reportedly plans to provide more information when the mother has recovered from the birth.
