When I first became pregnant I never envisioned I would be spending my long awaited maternity leave in lockdown nor in the middle of a pandemic.

After having a fairly difficult pregnancy and going through all of my maternity care alone (due to the government restrictions) my maternity leave was long awaited so I could enjoy spending time with my son. However, I never thought that the time I would be spending with my new born would be stuck in the house without the support of my family and friends, and not being able to reap the benefits of all the things new parents take for granted and the only way of introducing my son to the world was via FaceTime.
Due to the pandemic, all the normal things like joining a baby swim club , parent and baby groups , baby massage, amongst other new experiences that are important for a baby's social development, will be something I and others will miss out on. This is why I have created a petition with change.org in hopes that our voice will be recognised. Current science suggests we may achieve some level of “normality” in Spring/Summer 2021 - by this time I will be back at work and relying on child care when my son hasn’t even been integrated into his extended family properly. For this reason, I ask the government to consider extending the entitlement to Statutory Maternity Pay by 3 months, in the hope that new parents can spend this extra time catching up on precious time lost due to the pandemic.
Please help me help other parents to get this precious extra time with their little ones, as this is something we will never get back. Hopefully by spring/summer 2021 the extra 3 months pay will enable us to enjoy some time out of lockdown when the pandemic is starting to ease and we can enjoy the usual things and start introducing our little ones to the world. Not just maternity leave but adoption leave too. Let’s help new parents together.