What to expect while you're expecting a baby.(college maternity benefits)

While having children seems like a perfectly natural part of adulthood, many hidden implications affect women working on campus.

"I had an image of higher education being progressive, generous," said Dr. Wendy Endress, dean of students at Portland State University. Endress soon realized that she had misconceived the higher education system.

Speaking at the NASPA conference in March in Washington DC, Endress discussed effects of parenthood, along with Emily Perl, associate dean of students at Goucher College MD, and Michael Patterson, assistant dean and director of residential life at Maryland Institute College of Art. Each reviewed her or his leave experience for parenthood and subsequent return to work.

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Isn't it ironic?

When Perl decided to adopt a child as a single woman, she took time to determine Goucher College's leave policy. She found that Goucher College's leave policy. She found that Goucher provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave when giving birth or adopting a child, the minimum requirement mandated by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) passed in 1993.

As a form of advocacy, Perl explored other schools' leave policies to determine if this level of support was the norm. She soon discovered that a Harvard University study indicated that 163 of 168 nations offered some form of paid maternity leave to employees. Unfortunately, the United States was one of the five countries that did not.