CUBA has promoted many policies to benefit women and guarantee their social integration and development.

The reality speaks for itself. At present Cuban women comprise 66% of all technicians and professionals in the country's middle and higher levels; 72% in the educational sector, 67% in health, 43% in science and 21% in the sugar industry.

The increase in the number of women in leadership roles at all levels is also apparent and is evidence of their growing involvement in the nation's politics and in decision-making positions.

At the same time, the Cuban Government and state – through Ministry of Public Health policies and programs – have given priority to the protection of women during pregnancy and the maternity process as a whole (pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal), which has resulted in the country currently showing low mortality rates comparable to developed nations.

In this context, and taking into account the degree of complexity and responsibility of maternal and paternal roles in the functional development of families, programs to encourage shared parental responsibility during and after pregnancy have been implemented with active participation from the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC).

However, Cuban society is still under the influence of a patriarchal model which has historically reserved for women the role of child caring and education, while men are the economic supporters or breadwinners and the family authority or head.

Thus, revolutionary measures such as Decree-Law No. 234 on maternity leave for women workers (2003), with its complementary provision No. 22/2003 – granting similar rights to fathers to enjoy paternity leave and look after their children during the first year of life – still encounter prejudice, stereotyping and resistance in Cuban society as a result of the entrenchment of socio-cultural practices based on machismo.

According to the statistics from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, from 2006 to September 2011, just 96 workers applied for paternity leave, a very low figure given the eight years that the legislation has been in effect. Many of them have availed themselves of it only in exceptional cases such as their death or illness of a spouse.

Male workers are not taking full advantage of this option, which allows them to consider which partner would benefit more from continuing to work, for professional as much as economic reasons.

There is no doubt that Decree-Law 234, in addition to providing protection for working women during and after pregnancy, aims to reshape the role of male workers as fathers by placing shared responsibility at the center of parental-filial relations.

Article 16 of the Decree-Law reads: "Once post-natal leave and the optimum breastfeeding period which guarantees children’s development are concluded, the mother or the father may decide who will continue to care for the child, the way in which responsibilities will be distributed during the first year of life and who will receive social security benefits…"

Yadira Castro, a FMC community work legal specialist, commented to Granma that her organization played an essential role in approving the legislation; thus demonstrating that it has enough influence to promote the enactment of laws which reflect present-day realities in relation to the protection of women and the family.

"This is the first piece of legislation with a gender-based focus, aimed at achieving equity between men and women and ensuring the car of children; it reflects proposals contained in the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which Cuba has signed," the specialist noted.

Maritza Rodríguez Lara, another FMC official in the field of community health programs, stated that by giving priority to and placing women at the center of the pregnancy process, men's role was diminished.

"When this Decree-Law went into force it drastically changed this status quo, although the legislation has faced mainly subjective obstacles – which cannot be ignored – among women and men. In current Cuban society, both parents reproduce female and male roles, inherited from generation into generation.

Rodríguez Lara recalled, "This cultural problem is based on the same conceptions in which children are educated from infancy and reproduce patterns and roles within the family."

"Historically, once a woman reaches reproductive age, she is socially required to become a mother, without respecting the fact that this decision is a prerogative of both members of the couple. From the time infant girls learn to play, they do so with dolls. They are the ones who pick them up, play with them and feed them; thus they are trained for the role. This is the basis on which society is constantly measuring them."

Therefore, machismo is not a behavior exclusive to men; women are also responsible for its social entrenchment. These concepts reach their highest point during maternity when the bases for the roles to be played by each member of the couple are established.

"Women are also frightened of carrying and caring for a baby, and we overcome the fear. We also get exhausted, and are not often asked if we are. It is understood that we are the ones who know how to do the chores and ought to be in charge of them," Rodríguez Lara commented.

Equally, as a result of social pressures exerted on women, "We want to uphold our right to decide when to become a mother and many times are guilty of not allowing men active participation in the process."

Since its inception, the FMC has been concerned with the protection of pregnant women, with special emphasis on achieving the cooperation of fathers and family members in the process.

Rodríguez Lara confirmed that different strategies were developed to train women on underlying reproduction risks before actual pregnancy. In this context, the FMC worked jointly with the Ministry of Public Health to create the Conscious Motherhood and Fatherhood program, with the objective of enrolling fathers in the process.

The official stated that another action was to reinstate prenatal consultations for pregnant women within the community in order to inform both parents on the development of the pregnancy and the means of ensuring a more healthy birth.

However, Rodríguez Lara stated that "although it is true that the FMC, the Ministry of Public Health and the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) worked jointly to organize workshops and ensure that parents were duly trained at the provincial level, I cannot say that the whole process was generalized."

The program also made it possible for pregnant women to be accompanied during the delivery by their partner or a family member, provided that they were properly trained. To this end, in addition to the training sessions, the Ministry of Public Health passed another resolution which is still in force.

She added that there is evidence that the rate of cesarean births and the number of maternal delivery procedures decrease when both members of the couple are involved in the delivery process, as childbirth becomes more natural.

All of these changes and proposals led to the Responsible Motherhood and Fatherhood program, which maintains the essence of the initial effort and incorporates primary health care as an essential element through the structures of the family doctor and nurse team and the support of the FMC.

"These actions were preceded by ideas put forward by the FMC and became a reality with Decree-Law No. 234, Rodríguez Lara confirmed.

Reshaping the role of fathers in Cuban society in order to change the concept helping women during pregnancy to one of shared responsibility, is more than a necessity, it is an obligation.