Women Circumstances
My stomach was getting bloated, and my malady was getting worse, so I was getting worried.
“Is my body okay?”
“You are a pregnant woman. Yet you are moving around so much.”
“I have been told that I need a certain amount of exercise.”
“But there’s a limit, isn’t there?”
And I’m not doing that much heavy work.
Right now, I was only doing paperwork and calculations for the company.
“What’s wrong?”
“It was the same in our fief, but it’s difficult to work when pregnant. But I can’t complain.”
Even back in our fief, not a few pregnant women were forced to work with big bellies.
I heard that there have been cases where children have been lost because of this.
“If only pregnant women could work without getting overwhelmed.”
“Yeah…”
A casual remark that made me wish the world would be more friendly to working women.
But later, this remark caused Mother to come up with a new business idea again.
“Henry, I came up with a new business idea.”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“I thought of it the other day when I saw Marie suffering from the morning sickness.”
“Yes?”
Henry’s expression stiffened.
These days, whenever Mother starts something new, Henry always becomes her victim.
“I think we should create a maternity leave program.”
“That’s…”
“The world is still male-dominated! But women can’t work properly when they are with a child… pregnancy is not a joke. There are many jobs they can do because they are pregnant.”
“Errm… in other words?”
“Because they are women experienced with babies, we’re going to get them to work with that field!”
That sounds wonderful.
“Mother, that’s wonderful. So they could manage to work even when pregnant.”
“Yes, without any pressure… there are very few jobs that offer maternity leave after the birth of a child. Our very Paulette Company offers maternity leave, but I can’t say that it’s very generous.”
“What is your plan?”
“Of course we’re going to improve the way the Company works! That’s much better than hiring new employees.”
Women were not hired for long term employment in any of the merchant companies.
Women were at a disadvantage because they could not work after marriage and pregnancy.
“How about a women-only company? We could sell baby clothes and offer childcare counseling.”
“Oh my! That sounds nice… I was also full of worries when I got pregnant.”
Everyone who is pregnant for the first time is anxious.
I am anxious too, and most doctors are men, and I’m sure there are many times when they are anxious too with only the second-hand knowledge they get from midwives.
It’s a wonderful idea.
However, because of this idea, Mother, who had created a women-only business, was forced to carry out an unbelievable plan.