This woman gave birth five days ago.

Say hello to French Justice Minister Rachida Dati. She is 43 years old, gave birth to her daughter Zohra five days ago via caesarean and on the same day she left the hospital with her baby, she put on this outfit and went back to work to attend a cabinet meeting.

According to reports:

"Pregnancy is not an illness," said Georges-Fabrice Blum, the vice president of the French gynecologists' association, and there are no ill effects from a quick return to work.

But woman's groups in France disagreed.

"This is scandalous," said Maya Sturduts from the National Collective for the Rights of Women.

"Employers can now use this to put pressure on women", she said, especially during the current tough economic times when employers may be looking for excuses to cut staff.

Women in France are guaranteed by law 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, of which 10 weeks are usually taken after the baby's birth.

But the French labour code does not apply to ministers like Dati.

Woman's rights activist Florence Montreynaud, a mother of four, said she was "shocked" by Dati's decision to go back to work so quickly and stressed that women do need to rest after delivery.

The European Commission has recommended that maternity leave be extended to 18 weeks, saying it would help families in Europe better organise their new lives with a baby.

Three French women ministers have had babies on the job before, including Sarkozy's defeated rival for the presidency Segolene Royal, when she was environment minister in the 1990s.

Recently, Spain's defence minister Carme Chacon took six week's leave after giving birth to her first child, a boy named Miquel. Dati, who is single, has kept the father's identity under wraps, telling reporters she had "a complicated private life" and sparking an intense guessing game in the French press.

President Nicolas Sarkozy paid a warm tribute to the "young mother" Dati during the cabinet meeting.

"Rachida has always said that to be a mother was the greatest of happinesses, but at the same time that she had important duties that she would continue to fulfil," government spokesman Luc Chatel told reporters.

I take several things away from this story. Like the fact that Sarkozy refers to a 43-year-old woman as a 'young mother' proves that European men seem to value older women as being sexy and not past it once they reach 25. I also take away a sense of sadness for both the mother and the baby that they weren't able to cherish the post birth bubble before she pulled on those stockings and shoe-horned herself into a pencil skirt and heels (note strategically placed folder but still, this really is the French equivalent of leaving hospital in a pair of teeny tiny jeans).

But mostly? I am outraged. Outraged that she is not wearing a bikini. Come on. It's been five whole days. How slack is that.....

Comments

[Maggs]

Goodness me, I would be still at home crying from the lack of sleep and raging hormones.

[Julia-Maree]

OMG how is this woman smiling? After my caesar I could hardly move for three weeks let alone get dressed and go out (and heaven forbid go to work!) She must be a very quick healer and have a marvellous support system and be a touch mad I feel.

[Amy Sheaves]

Oh, Mia you are so funny!

C'mon what's going on with the sisterhood? We should be sticking together, not competing by making outlandish statements with teeny white jeans, bikini’s and now portfolios. I’m afraid the next thing we are going to hear about is some chick celebrity giving an interview, or handing out fashion tips while simultaneously giving birth!

All jokes aside, it is seriously sad to read this article. I don’t care how much I get slandered for this comment, but a baby needs mum for at least the first 6-9 months.

Rachida Dati, I’m sure has the means to be with her baby. I can't imagine not wanting to provide the very best emotional foundation for your child. I feel so sad for this child. I just don’t get it?...we seem to treasure careers and $$ above flesh and blood.

[Lulu]

""Pregnancy is not an illness," said Georges-Fabrice Blum, the vice president of the French gynecologists' association"

But a caesarean is surgery, ferchrissakes. And if he doesn't know that, he's in the wrong job.

[Judy]

I like that Nicolas Sarkozy refers to Raschida as a "young mother" too, & I tend to agree about the French appreciation of elegant mature women.
Most people probably couldn't cope with a return to work in the public domain so soon after a C section (don't know for myself, not having had one) but my guess is that if she didn't feel up to it, she wouldn't have. She probably has a nanny to help with the little one, and maybe also doesn't work full hours. I do agree she is quite amazing if she doesn't feel very tired and frazzled. But good luck to her. No, you can't really see her tummy, but everything else is soooo attractive, and extremely French. She's lovely. Beauty AND brains, obviously.

[Jaz]

I find this daunting lol 5 days after giving birth? I mean..maybe she just had a REALLY easy pregnancy and birth. We cant judge her, but I am a bit concerned.
She looks good though! I like french women, they always seem so happy and full of life.

[Cath]

Maybe she's going straight home to change into a bikini, which she'll then wear whilst eating a hearty french meal and drinking some wine. After this, she'll have sex. If this is not the case, I doubt her authenticity as a frenchwoman - after all, 'french woman don't get fat', do they?

Seriously, though, this reminds me of when Cate Blanchett attended the thingy-thingy summit shortly after giving birth, (looking fabulous, of course), and people were very critical of her choice to attend. I don't know if I would have attended, but then again, (probably due to some bureaucratic bungling), I wasn't invited to attend the summit. I know! I was shocked KRudd didn't invite me, too. My point being, if there was something important to me that I was invited to - I'd shower, hop off the delivery bed, and be there, knowing there'd be time for rest eventually, and that I'd take that time after the event.

I think regardless of a woman's race, or culture, we need to respect every woman's right to make the decisions that suit them in the days, weeks, months, and year post birth, without making anyone feel as though she's 'let the sisterhood down' by making that choice.

I don't get why people, and I have to say, it seems to be mostly women, are so judgemental about this. Is it because those women seem to 'have it all'? Or is it because they make us feel like we're not 'coping' as well? For all we know, Cate Blanchett bathed in SKII for hours, then trussed herself up in 'Spanx' before attending the summit. She probably got home and collapsed in a heap - maybe she even cried, which is no different to what any woman who comes home and has to deal with other little kids and a house at the end of the day (post birth or not), would do. Going to a summit, and even attending a sitting of Parliament, is probably a piece of cake compared to what many women have to do post baby.

We have a tiny insight into these women's lives, gleaned via one or two photos. We don't know that Rachida Dati won't spend every non-working minute of her day resting, and bonding with her baby. Expecting women to present and behave a certain way post pregnancy, (so everyone else will feel better about their own lives), seems just a little bit sexist, actually. I think we need to think a bit more broadly than that if we want to progress as a society. There are a million different ways to do motherhood, most of them work. Who are we to say who's way is best?

[Angela]

One word - drugs!
The woman has had her abdomen sliced open and a human removed. That hurts. As my physio told me after a caesar (I was arguing that it was not possible to not carry a basket of washing for 1 week let alone 6), "You have just had major surgery, you need to take it easy!" I did do the washing on day 5 but I was walking very slowly and not wearing high heels.

[Lu]

I wasnt even allowed to drive my car for 2 weeks after having my caesers and some of my friends have had to wait 4 wks - Drs orders ! After my first caeser I was in hospital for 7 days because that was the standard stay then. And I remember leaving hospital with my slippers on because my feet were so swollen I couldnt wear shoes. How on earth then can it be OK for her to help run a country ?

That aside, I think the question that should be asked is why on earth did she have a child if she clearly only did so to get it off her 'must do before 45 list'. To do the job of surrogate mother - give birth and then pay others to do the mothering from day 5 - isnt fair on anyone. I call this a parenting disaster story.

[Isabella too]

I must admit when I first saw this article my instant reaction was 'holy crap! how is she doing this?'. And by the 'how' I mean the post operation walking, the wearing of stilettos, the juggling no sleep/using her brain etc etc!! Because I think the 'why is she doing this' is something that only she can answer but it's pretty obvious to the outside observer that her job is not one that she thinks she can take time off from. I'm with Cath on this one - we don't know what is happening day to day. Look, I'm going to make an assumption - from reading an article about Rachida - that it doesn't sound like it was a planned pregnancy. So she's had the baby and is, like all of us, just making choices based on doing what she thinks is right for her and her child. Whether it is or not, whether we agree with it or not, it's her call.