In a few countries – including the United States – new mothers are expected to resume activities and even return to work within a short period of time.  According to USA Today, “the United States and Australia are the only industrialized countries that don't provide paid leave for new mothers nationally, though there are exceptions in some U.S. states.

There is currently a grass-roots national movement that is beginning for the expansion of required leave for new parents. 

As USA Today writes, ”...out of 168 nations in a Harvard University study last year, 163 had some form of paid maternity leave, leaving the United States in the company of Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.

In other countries around the world, a new mother is encouraged to stay home and focus on regaining her strength and bond with the newborn baby. 

Working moms who live in Canada qualify for a year-long leave after they have a baby, and receive 55 percent of their salary.  Canadian fathers are entitled to 37 weeks of parental leave, but many still don't take advantage of this benefit./

The law requires employers to provide maternity leave in India, but it is not strongly enforced.  In fact, when a woman's employer finds out she's pregnant, she is often politely sidelined and made to feel unwanted.  Consequently, many Indian women do not continue to work after they become pregnant.  

Following the birth of a baby, Swedish parents receive over a year of paid leave as well as many other benefits, plus the couple can share or split the time off.  Norway has a similar leave policy.

The leave policy in Bulgaria is even more generous, providing mothers with 45 days of full sick leave prior to the due date.  After birth, the mother has two years paid leave, and up to one additional year of unpaid leave!  Additionally, the employer is obliged to restore the mother to the same position upon return to work and pregnant women and single mothers cannot be fired.

In Britain all female employees are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave. 39 weeks of this leave is paid, with the first six weeks paid at 90% of full pay and the remainder at a fixed rate.

Information for this article was gathered from a number of newspapers, blogs and websites, including USA Today, Wikipedia, midwiferytoday.com, medhunters.com, mothering.com, parents.com and several other sites.