Years ago, when launching a new American magazine, my colleagues and I often flipped through a bunch of titles out of Australia for inspiration. Why? Those magazines were sexier and more rule-breaking, and did not give a shit, frankly, about being PC. Years later, American newsstands kind of caught up, but by then the Aussies were on to bigger and better things.

So I was completely un-shocked, when doing research my book The Fifth Trimester, I discovered that many of the best studies about the efficacy of paid parental leave came straight from our cooler cousins Down Under, where mothers get—wait for it—up to 18 weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. (Reminder that here in the U.S., parents get zero (0) weeks of paid leave. And how on earth can you study the efficacy locally of something that doesn't exist?)

Here's the latest, an article that shows that moms who take parental leave are:
More likely to...
...breastfeed longer
...keep their babies' immunizations up to date
And less likely to
...have babies with asthma
...have babies who have bronchiolitis.

Thank you, and g'day, mates.