Husbands on paternity leave should spend time looking after their wives and children instead of playing golf, said the prime minister’s wife Rosmah Mansor.

She said that in addition to the 60 to 90-day maternity leave given to female workers, the husband is also entitled to seven days of paternity leave.

Therefore, Rosmah ( photo ) jokingly said that she hopes the husbands would spend the seven days at home instead of the golf course.

“So I hope the husbands look after the mother and the child. Don’t spend the seven days’ leave playing golf. The wives should check on their husbands to ensure that the seven days are spent looking after them.

“Don’t allow them to leave. I know the men won’t be happy about this but I’m here to stand up for women,” she said to an applauding audience.

She added that she did not manage to enjoy the full 60 to 90-day maternity leave, while her husband Najib Abdul Razak had not gone on paternity leave at all due to his busy schedule.

“He (Najib) never got this leave. He never had a chance to take seven days (leave).

“Sixty, ninety (days) leave (for women), I only got 40 days. After 40 days I had to return to work,” she said.

Rosmah said this during her speech in Putrajaya today to national-level launch of the World Breastfeeding Week.

Set up more nursing rooms for mothers

She also urged for more nursing rooms to be set up in public spaces to help mothers, saying that there is a lack of such amenities at places such as shopping malls, bus stations, train stations, and airports.

Taking the UK and the US as examples, she said these countries are more open about breastfeeding and have set up many nursing rooms in public spaces.

“Therefore I urged the parties involved to consider setting up nursing rooms so that mothers can nurse their child in comfort,” she said.

The responsibility of promoting breastfeeding, she said, does not fall on the government and the private sector alone, but all parties.

Therefore, the support of employers towards working women is important to ensure that breastfeeding can be done even at work.

Employers are also encouraged to create a family and child-friendly environment by setting up comfortable nursing rooms as well as places to store breast milk.

Otherwise, she said working women would have to either stop breastfeeding or quit their jobs.

“There are several barriers (to breastfeeding) especially in terms of work environments that are not conducive to breastfeeding.

“This has caused women to stop breastfeeding when they return to work. Others have also resorted to abandoning their careers,” he said.