Support for new parents would be vastly superior if it was men who gave birth, Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has said.
The MEP for Dublin recently gave birth prematurely to his third child - the couple’s second daughter - Róisín.
Despite the difficult start to her life, Mr Ó Ríordáin said Róisín is now “doing well” now and that the doctors are happy with her.
Róisín’s mother, Nicola, underwent a C-section and Mr Ó Ríordáin described it as a “very traumatic period” that she is still recovering from.
“So it's a very psychologically challenging time, a physically challenging time,” he told Lunchtime Live.
“And I don't necessarily think that guys, a lot of guys, really get just how traumatic it can be.
“And when your own health is on the line, as a woman who's pregnant and your life can be on the line.
“So, it's a huge amount to go through.”
A pregnant woman. Picture by: Photononstop / Alamy Stock Photo.While new mothers have incrementally won new rights over the generations - such as maternity leave - Mr Ó Ríordáin believes society is still designed by men and for men.
“I just think the system, politics, society, business has been designed for men for hundreds of years,” he said.
“And I think we just have to have a look at just how society deals with pregnancy and deals with women who go through pregnancy.
“And the level of trauma and pain and physical pain and then the breastfeeding and all of that is just completely all consuming, all consuming for a woman.”
A pregnant woman. Picture by: EyeEm / Alamy Stock Photo.Mr Ó Ríordáin added that there is still a lack of empathy from many towards the struggles of pregnant women and young mothers.
“If a pregnancy goes wrong, I think if men went through it, there'd be an absolute understanding from politics, legislation or from workers' rights that somebody needs time off to come to terms with that,” he said.
“And I think we need to be an awful lot more sensitive to that, because the rulemakers traditionally over hundreds of years have not been the ones who have been getting pregnant.”
Main image: A pregnant woman. Picture by: Andriy Popov / Alamy.
