Parental leave following birth has always been limited and it is still the shortest in Europe. A new campaign, ‘It’s a motherf**cker’, alongside the Dad Shift is focussed on improving the situation, in light of the increasing levels of Caesarean sections and subsequent increased needs for women for recovery. Rachel Grocott, CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed explains the campaign.
The UK’s paltry paternity leave is failing new parents. At just two weeks, it’s the shortest in Europe, leaving women alone at one of the most vulnerable times in their lives and forcing dads back to work when they know they’re still needed at home. With Ceasarean section births steeply increasing, more and more new mums are forced to juggle their recovery with the challenges of caring for a newborn with no support.
We need urgent change, and our new campaign, alongside the Dad Shift, calls for exactly that. We’re being clear about what really think of the UK’s paternity leave: It’s a motherf**cker. Poorly thought out and not fit for purpose, based on outdated gender stereotypes and not in line with modern families – and new mums are being left to pay the price. We’ve joined forces with an army of activists, influencers and politicians to shine a light on the issue, launching our billboard campaign this month and placing thousands of “motherf**cker” stickers above c-section scars and other symbols of how the country’s system has let them down – cars they couldn’t drive, car seats they couldn’t lift and stairs they couldn’t climb. Influencers and mums have been sharing their c-section experiences online, and leading portrait photographer and gender-equality expert Sane Seven has taken pictures of 11 women, including Anna Whitehouse, aka Mother Pukka, to produce powerful images to support the campaign.
For many women, physical recovery can take months, especially those who’ve had a complex birth or required surgery, so a system that forces partners back to work too soon is at best devastating, at worst, dangerous. On top of that, statutory paternity is poorly paid, as is maternity pay, both currently sitting at 59% below the National Living Wage. Self-employed dads aren’t entitled to any leave or pay at all. This puts added pressure on new parents and pushes the most vulnerable into poverty. Evidence demonstrates that where parents are given more parental leave, they experience lower levels of post-partum depression and lower wage gaps. New families must be protected and supported. The entire parental leave system needs a total overhaul, that is inclusive of all families, supports recovery and bonding, and that offers properly funded parental leave to both parents.
Izzy, 38, from Chester, is one of the many parents who shared their experiences as part of the campaign. She says she went to hell and back when her partner returned to work, a story echoed by many who have been in touch with us. She said,
“The day my husband went back to work after paternity leave was horrific. I was still in agony from my emergency c-section and couldn’t pick up my baby without pain, let alone walk to the kitchen cupboard to get myself a glass of water. I was still learning to breastfeed, which was made more challenging by the c-section, as all the feeding positions meant contorting my body in a way that strained my wound. I was ravenous as my body was recovering from the physical trauma of giving birth and also providing all the nutrients my baby needed to survive; yet I was unable to get myself the food or water I needed as I was either under my baby or pumping. Three months after I’d given birth, my c-section wound ruptured and became infected. I believe this would not have happened if my husband had been at home longer to provide me with the physical and mental support I needed.”
Neya Joshi, a mother of two in London, also shared her account of being left alone at a very vulnerable time: “I remember leaving the hospital, and I couldn’t get into the car without help because I was in so much pain with my stitches. At home for a couple of weeks, I slept on the floor on a mattress, as getting in and out of bed was too painful. I was completely unable to function, both mentally and physically – I later learnt that this was the effect of having PTSD from my son’s birth and being so consumed by the trauma. My husband was looking after the house, sorting meals, and helping with my son (whilst I spent most of the day in bed) for a couple of months after his birth. I genuinely can’t bear to think how I would have coped if he wasn’t around. I had an elective c-section the second time around as it was advised – again, the recovery felt brutal, and I honestly wouldn’t wish for anyone to have to manage alone after major abdominal surgery following just two weeks of paternity leave.”
George Gabriel, co-founder of The Dad Shift, says it’s horrible for dads too: “It’s hard to put into words just how shit it feels as a dad, knowing you can’t be there for your partner as they care for your baby while recovering from major surgery.
He adds, “The UK’s rubbish paternity offer means over 230,000 mothers are left every year to fend for themselves and their babies during their post-operative recovery because their partners are forced back to work. Imagine an entire city the size of Peterborough or Portsmouth, that’s the scale of the failure in public policy we’re talking about.”
We can’t keep ignoring this issue and leaving new parents to pick up the pieces. New data tells us the number of births delivered via c-section is up by 35% over the last five years, with 42% of all babies now delivered this way. This means nearly half of all new mums face weeks of recovery on their own while balancing the mental load of caring for a newborn. Dads and non-birthing partners want to help. They want to and need to support their new family and be a part of those crucial early days, but their hands are tied by an outdated system that doesn’t meet anyone’s needs. Improving parental leave needs to be a priority to protect everyone’s mental and physical health, and to enable all parents and families to thrive.
Find out more about the campaign and help us raise awareness at pregnantthenscrewed.com.
Rachel Grocott, CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed
November 2025