“Starting immediately, paid maternity leave is tripled to 18 weeks for moms, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Thursday,” the Marine Corps Times reports.  

“The new 18-week figure was inspired by Google’s maternity leave policy, according to chief of naval personnel spokesman Cmdr. Chris Servello. When the company increased its policy from 12 to 18 weeks in 2007, he said, they found that half as many new moms were leaving the company. The Navy and Marine Corps have a similar problem when it comes to women getting out to focus on their children. The hope is that women will be more likely to stay on active duty if they have more time with their newborns.”  

“The new policy also applies to any women who have gotten their maternity leave authorized since Jan. 1.”