I agree it would be different. My friends in Europe get leave and it works for them. It was funny to write this for a British journal because their perspective on caregiving is so different. Pumping is pretty much unheard of in Europe.

One reason I was going to work was because I love my research, but if I could have taken six months off, paid, without worrying about career progression, then I probably would have spent a whole lot more of that babywearing time reading novels or going for walks outside.