"I also hope that overall ... they may perhaps be more likely to see their employee return to work because they have had a decent amount of paid parental leave."
Faylyn Walker was expecting her first child next month and will not be directly affected by the announcement but welcomed the change.
"I'm very glad it's going up, 18 weeks isn't enough time to spend with your newborn, they're still developing," she said.
The hairdresser who lived in Katikati but worked in Tauranga said after 18 weeks new mums were likely to still be breastfeeding and would have to find ways to be at work and still feed their baby.
Walker said she would be taking more than the 18 weeks of paid parental leave and would not be returning to her job until later in 2018.
The mum-to-be said there was a possibility she may have more children and was pleased that she would be entitled to the increased paid parental leave if she did get pregnant in the future.
She said her employer at The Hair Lounge had been very accommodating of her decision to return to work a year after her baby would be born.
Bay of Plenty District Health Board midwife Natasha Rawiri said the increase in paid parental leave was positive for new mums and their babies.
She said the World Health Organisation recommended babies to be breastfed for six months which showed the Government were "forming steps" to support the recommendation.
Rawiri said it was "great in a way" that families would receive more income and time with their newborns, however, not every mum would meet the criteria to benefit from the increase such as the unemployed or part-time workers.
Paid parental leave details
• Currently at 18 weeks
• July 1 2018 increased to 22 weeks
• July 1 2020 increased to 26 weeks
• Estimated to cost $325m over four years