'Parenting is not only a mother's job': SA dads talk new paternal leave law

In many cultures, it is an accepted norm that women bear the responsibility of taking care of the baby. It is somewhat of an unspoken expectation for mothers to bathe, feed and wake up in the middle of the night whenever the baby cries. 

They're expected to do this while healing from the ramifications of carrying a baby for months before having to go through childbirth, lest we forget the mental and psychological implications, too. 

Family lawyer Simon Dippenaar of Simon Dippenaar and Associates said the court's decision to grant parental leave to mothers and fathers of children born of the mother, as well as to adoptive parents and parents of children conceived by surrogacy charts an essential route for gender equality and the importance of family life.