National promises $3000 entitlement to all expectant mums

The National Party is promising all expectant mothers $3000 and to make paid parental leave more flexible so both parents can take it at the same time.

In its "First 1000 days" policy released this afternoon, National said it would implement a $226 million a year "seven-part plan" if elected into Government at the election.

It includes a $3000 credit per child for parents to use on approved and specified services over their child's first three years.

Mothers and babies with higher needs would be entitled to a further $3000 - up to $6000 in total - if needed.

National's social investment spokesperson Louise Upston said giving new parents nominal funding for their newborn meant parental demand would determine which services received the money.

The funding would work like a credit for services and wouldn't be provided as a cash payment.

And it wouldn't come at the expense of baseline Government funding to organisations which support the first 1000 days, like Plunket which gets about $66 million per year, Upston said.

Eligible services parents could use the $3000 funding for:

• Additional pre- or postnatal parental education.
• Registration with Lead Maternity Carers.
• Community midwife services.
• Extended postnatal stay.
• Specialist support including lactation consultants, sleep specialists and pelvic health practitioners.
• Additional support from Tamariki Ora providers like Plunket.
• Home-based support to develop mothercraft skills.
• Participation in parenting groups such as SPACE, Play Centre and Te Kōhanga Reo.
• Additional paid parental leave.
• More ECE hours for older siblings.
• Home-based visits from health professionals.

"National's bold plan would give parents commissioning power over the support they need, recognising the fact that a mother with her third child may need different services than a mother experiencing her first pregnancy," Upston said.

As well, National said it would:

• Give mothers pre and post-birth GP visits and revamp the B4 School check at 3 years to identify developmental concerns and trigger early intervention services. The B4 check is currently at age 4.

• Fund a three-day postnatal stay.

• Develop a "child passport", an enhanced version of the current Well Child/Tamariki Ora book with electronic record-keeping.

• Establish a National Centre for Child Development headquartered at a university.

• Allow parents to take paid parental leave at the same time if they wish.

Paid parental leave was extended by 22 to 26 weeks under the current Government. While it can be split between parents, it can only be taken by one parent at a time.

National would seek to make this leave flexible so parents could take some of that time concurrently.

It attempted to introduce the policy in 2017 as an amendment to the bill which extended paid leave and was passed under urgency.

The National Party put up an amendment to make that time flexible, meaning parents could take some of that time concurrently - but the Government did not support it, saying its bill focused on the primary caregiver.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at the time she liked the idea of flexibility and it had a "really good chance" of Government support, but wanted it to go through the public scrutiny of a select committee process.

National leader Judith Collins said their package would "give parents control and choice over the type of support they receive, regardless of their situation or parenting experience".