Long thread ahead.
Maternity is one of the sacred roles that women achieve. So is the bone in the pelvis where the foetal head lies named as "Sacrum". Going through the ordeal of giving birth makes the mother tired, but also pushes her into new role of carer for newborn.

Now thisrole is one of the most complex transition in human life because this is the foundation for life of another human being.After delivery there is sudden drop of hormone levels and the urgency to shift to the role of being mother puts immense stress on mother's mental state

A mixed state of joy of becoming mother and being stressed about taking care of new born baby, will put new mothers vulnerable for mental illness. This often manifests as post partum blues characterized by anxiety, withdrawn behaviour, crying spells, easily becoming irritable etc

Though these blues are self limiting, and are common ie, one in five mother's experience this,these blues can progress to post partum depression or psychosis which is a severe form and needs definite treatment by Psychiatrist. Untreated forms can put both mother and child at risk

Apart from this the most important factor is attachment. Attachment is a process of relationship development between mother and newborn where the newborn understands that there is someone who responds always to his/her needs. This also helps the child to explore the world in the

Presence of mother so that he/she can always come back to mother if feeling insecure or fearful. This development of secure base helps the child to develop self esteem and this bond works as a template for the child to form relationships later in life like friendship/intimate et

This bond helps the child to have trust in human relations. When this bond is disrupted due to inconsistent presence of mother or absence of mother there will be insecure attachment and this forms the basis for future emotional problems. Research says almost all mental health

problems can have a component of attachment problems. Attachment is reciprocal. The responsive of child elicits ejection reflex in mother to produce and pump milk, this milk is both nutritious and protective against infections for child. Attachment is important for both physical

and emotional health of the child. Children not reared by a consistent care giver do not grow in healthy manner. They are underweight and stunted. So it is absolutely necessary for the mother to spend the initial one year with the baby. Nobody can replace mother.

Maternity leave has a purpose which is scientific, it is not just for taking rest , but a necessary investment period for child's future wellbeing. In scientific view mother's have to either choose the child's secure future or work but not both. One has to compromise for other.

However given ethical principles it is the moral obligation of the mother to give priority to newborn than work.The support from husband, family, employer, society is essential in this regard. That is the reason even paternity leave of two weeks is given to provide help to mother

Secure attachment gives healthy children,healthy children are healthy future of community and country. The country's future is dependent on how it takes care of the pregnant women and mothers.That is the reason the govererments spend much of health budget on mother and child care

I am a qualified Psychiatrist, the above written matter is scientific truth. If you don't believe in above thing, I respect your opinion but I don't have time to convince you or reason with you.