I do not know exactly (please correct me when I'm wrong!), but I think
there is a basic rule for all EU countries. EU coutries should follow these
guidelines in their laws. If not, individual people in the countries could
go to court, and they will *win*.

The EU guidelines aren't great. The Dutch law does follow the EU
guidelines. Here women have 16 weeks paid maternity leave. They should stop
working 4 weeks before the due date (this is to prevent boshes to push
women to work longer), and take the remaining of the 16 weeks after the
delivery. Most women return to work about 3 months after the delivery. It
is way too early.

Next to that men and women have the rigth to have parental leave. This is
unpaid. They can decide to work halftime for 6 months. I'm not sure but I
think this is now changed: parents can also choose to stay at home for 3
months fulltime, unpaid, instead of 6 months half time.

most working mothers in the Netherlands work parttime: 3 days a week, or 4
days a week. Still most women quit breastfeeding before they return to
work. Initial bf rate is 70%. At 3 months the bf rate is 17%.

greetings,

Annelies Bon
Breastfeeding Resources http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/abon/bfbronnen.html
breastfeeding counsellor of the Dutch bf org "Borstvoeding Natuurlijk"
mailto:[log in to unmask]
living in a small city, Almere, near Amsterdam, The Netherlands