Being a mother and a sailor Marine became a bit easier this month after the Navy tripled paid maternity leave for active duty women from six to 18 weeks.

The change is one of several initiatives introduced by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus intended to attract and retain women sailors and Marines.

The Navy also plans to open jobs that had been closed to women and extend child care hours.

Officials at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station declined to comment on the maternity leave changes, saying it was “too early” to respond at a local level.

The Navy and the Marine Corps officials are continually looking for ways to attract and keep the best people, the Navy Secretary said in a prepared statement. He called the change “an investment in our people.”

“We have incredibly talented women who want to serve, and they also want to be mothers and have the time to fulfill that important role the right way. We can can do that for them. Meaningful maternity leave when it matters most is one of the best ways that we can support the women who serve our country.”

Under the new policy, commanding officers are required to grant a woman up to a total of 18 weeks, using a combination of maternity leave and convalescent leave beyond 30 days.

The policy also retroactively applies to any woman who has been authorized convalescent leave following the birth of a child since Jan. 1.

A mother does not need to take all the leave at once. She is entitled to use the leave within one year of her child’s birth.

At six weeks of paid maternity leave, the U.S. military had lagged far behind the rest of the developed world in time off after the arrival of a child, acknowledged Lt. Jackie Pau, a Navy spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.

“At a time when we are competing in an international global market for the best talent, and many of the people we seek to attract are women who want to be able to have a meaningful job and a meaningful opportunity to be a mother, this is an investment that we cannot afford not to make,” she said.

She noted that the private sector retained more women employees by upping maternity leave. Google reported the rate at which women left the company dropped by 50 percent after the company boosted maternity leave from 12 to 18 weeks in 2007.

There are health benefits: new mothers experience improved mental and physical health; children receive better prenatal and postnatal care, and enjoy better cognitive and social development, she said.

About 5,000 women would be eligible annually, including 500 officers, according to the Navy. Women comprise a little under one fifth of active-duty personnel in the Navy -— about 9,300 women officers and 48,000 enlisted women.

There are no plans to increase the leave for new fathers, she said.

“Paternity leave is not a form of convalescent leave and thus the Secretary of the Navy does not have the authority to change it himself,” she said.

Today, sailors can be granted up to 10 days of paternity leave, she said.

Other initiatives include a career intermission program that allows sailors to take time off to go to school or pursue other personal goals.

The Naval Base in Bremerton is part of a six-month trial program extending hours at childcare centers, youth facilities and fitness centers. Officials want to see if families will use the facilities enough to justify the extra payroll costs. If they do, the program would be expanded to other bases.

The maternity policy took effect at the beginning of this month and other initiatives are scheduled to be implemented by 2018.