Kralendijk- Although many people are still unaware of the fact, the BES-Reporter understands from reliable sources that the maternity leave on the BES islands as of 1 January 2017 has gone from a total of 12 weeks to a total of 16 weeks.

The discrepancy between the length of maternity leave in the Netherlands as opposed to the BES-islands was a thorn in the eye of various healthcare professionals, who decided this to raise the matter with the Dutch Government. This ultimately has resulted in the elimination of the discrepancy between the European and Caribbean parts of The Netherlands.

The implemented change means a significant improvement for pregnant women. Experts say the change will benefit the necessary mother-child bonding and, hopefully, will also have a positive effect on the duration of breastfeeding to the newborn.