Yes. It’s difficult to estimate the costs, but in one of our studies, we found that women who experienced a miscarriage and did not receive support in the community—from organizations like the PAIL Network, for example—ended up visiting the emergency room four or five times for the same miscarriage. Going to the ER, seeing a nurse, seeing a doctor, and undergoing tests—all of that represents significant costs.
Then, when psychiatric care is needed, that also represents significant costs, and it’s a source of distress for the family.
When we talk about costs, we also think of children with depressive or anxiety disorders, or behavioural disorders. These children need specialists. It’s something they will carry with them for the rest of their lives and will also pass on to their own children. The anxiety experienced by a mother during pregnancy is passed on to a female baby through epigenetic transfer, and her daughter will also pass it on to her own female children. We are talking about the intergenerational transmission of significant mental health disorders.
Prevention is therefore important to provide parents with a safe space to grieve properly and support one another through the process. It also prevents separation. Separation makes families economically, emotionally and socially more fragile. Families are increasingly deprived of all kinds of resources.
So, the goal is to prevent a range of problems for 100,000 Canadian families. The cost of this leave is very low compared to the consequences these problems may have later on. Quebec has calculated this, even though it hasn’t acted any faster as a result.