Maternity leave and bringing up kids in Dubai
 

I have recently moved out to Dubai from the UK., and already have one 3 month old baby girl. Me and my wife are planning on having at lease two more children 1.5 years apart. I wanted to know of other expats experiences of bringing up babies/small children in Dubai, and the official position of maternity leave in the region. Did you go back to the UK to have your baby delivered? Also, if both parents are working, what adjustments have you had to make to your finances/lifestyle as a result? Thanks. :)

Re: Maternity leave and bringing up kids in Dubai
 

Erm, as this is an arab country actually it´s generally assumed that the man in the house works while the wife stays at home so the concept of a maternity leave will take some employers by surprise I´m afraid despite it being a law.

A working woman is entitled to 45 days’ maternity leave with full pay. This is to include periods before and after the delivery provided she has served continuously for not less than one year. The maternity leave shall be granted with half pay if the woman has not completed one year.
At the end of the leave, a working woman has the right to extend her maternity leave for a maximum of 100 days, yet without pay. This unpaid leave can be continuous or interrupted due to an illness that prevents her from coming to work. That must be certified or endorsed by a competent health authority stating that the illness is a result of pregnancy or delivery. The abovementioned leave shall not be deducted from the other leave entitlements.

During the 18 months following the delivery, the working woman who fosters her child has the right to have two daily intervals which do not exceed half an hour each for the purpose of nursing her child. Those two additional intervals shall be considered part of the working hours and no deduction in wages shall be made.
As per the UAE laws, maternity and child birth are given high priority and working women are protected. As such, your employer will not be justified to terminate your service on the grounds of your pregnancy.


As for the rest I´m not in a position to inform anyone..

Re: Maternity leave and bringing up kids in Dubai
 

oh I like it when people know exactly how far apart they want their kids to be born...makes life so much easier, planning like that...fingers crossed that those eggs and sperms do what you have in mind for them...

Re: Maternity leave and bringing up kids in Dubai
 

have a look at the wiki entry "giving birth in the UAE".

I have a 17 month old and another one due in June. For many reasons I'll be going back to the UK to give birth.

"People" say that Dubai is great for kids... well, it's safer than the UK. That's as far as I personally can get with "great".

Non-westerners here will have a tendancy to want to touch, photograph and give treats to your kids without necessarily asking. It's up to you if you are happy with this. There is no concept of something being potentially harmful - my daughter has been given marshmallows and peanut cookies before.

There is also a very different way of bringing kids up, again, it's down to personal choice as to whether it's a problem or not, but here are a few things that I've seen:
- non-westerners seem to treat babies as babies for much, much longer. This can obviously impact if you hire a nanny (you'll get a lot of "hello bay-bee!" lobbed at the kid and not much more stimulating interaction!) and the question of feeding. You can get formula milks for kids up to 5 and many waiters have been surprised that my then-1-year-old would eat what I ate... yup, no puree!
- "people" seem to think that babies love sugar... again, when I asked for some water for my daughter, I was asked by a puzzled waiter if I wanted juice, and when I said, no, please, just water, he replied... "with sugar?". Er, let me think...
- small kids around here get ill just as much as in the UK, apart from here it's with fevers, tummy bugs and the runs. Fortunately, I've not had any major incidents, but some of my friends have had a few hospital trips.

On the plus side, you can get all kinds of prescription medication over the counter in chemists (I've been able to get hydrocortisone and antibiotics for her with no doc's visit) and discreet breastfeeding is welcomed (although you may get some people come up to you and tell you that formula is better 'cos "doctors have put in everything that the baby needs!")

Lastly, if your wife is thinking of not working there are lots of mother and baby groups around... she won't be alone, by any means. The only thing being that the climate dictates when and where we can take the kids out to play. There are playgrounds dotted around, but by about 10h30 now, it's getting too hot really for them to play outside. Make sure you get accommodation that your wife would be happy spending most of her time in.

Many, many families go back to the UK for a couple of months over the summer though, as it is just too hot here. We were over last May with Miss Kitty at 8 months old and it was 35-40 degrees - she would be sopping wet with sweat within minutes if we tried going out between 10h-16h30 and came out in heat rashes.

Er, gosh... all this sounds a bit negative. It's not as bad as it may sound.

There are huge plus points too, mainly that your salary will almost certainly allow your wife to stay at home looking after the kids, which is a luxury few can afford in the UK. There's also the beach, pools and, yes, it's perfectly safe (and clean) to let your little ones run around as they wish.

Re: Maternity leave and bringing up kids in Dubai
 

yeah - lol - we wanted 3 years between ours, but biology got in the way!

Re: Maternity leave and bringing up kids in Dubai
 

it usually does...one way or the other...