Across Europe, growing attention has been given to policies that enable parents to share parental leave in ways that suit their family needs. In Sweden, since 2012, parents have been eligible to stay at home for 30 days simultaneously (the so-called “Double Days” reform), with this period extended to 60 days starting in July 2024. However, little has been done to investigate the strategic use of this simultaneous parental leave in terms of its impact on health, including for parents seeking critical mental healthcare during the first year after birth.
Researchers at Stockholm University – Helena Honkaniemi and Sol P. Juárez – have now explored the mental healthcare use of parents who were on leave simultaneously within the first year after childbirth. For this, they used Swedish total population data on prescriptions and outpatient care visits.
The study found that birthing mothers who used leave simultaneously with their partners were more likely to meet their underlying mental healthcare needs, resulting in higher levels of antidepressant prescriptions. In contrast, their partners were more likely to receive care for substance use-related disorders, compared to parents who did not use leave at the same time. Mental healthcare use was highest among mothers who shared leave with their partners sooner after birth, with longer periods of simultaneous leave corresponding to greater mental healthcare use for both parents.
Together, these findings suggest that parents use flexible parental leave schemes (in this case, the simultaneous days) strategically, not only to help balance work and childcare responsibilities, but also to seek necessary treatment for underlying mental health conditions.
Mothers are particularly vulnerable in the immediate postpartum period, as supported by the study’s finding of greater healthcare-seeking with earlier simultaneous leave use. Meanwhile, with longer periods of simultaneous leave, fathers may be more likely to seek mental healthcare later in the first postpartum year, or once maternal health needs have been met.
Overall, the study emphasises the benefits of flexible parental leave policies for overcoming individual and structural obstacles to postpartum mental health treatment.