If a company gives you a negative score due to a gap that's explained by taking time out to look after a baby then you're probably better off not working there.
If it's just one employer, that would be their loss. If it's all employers, that would be your loss. And the reality is much closer to the latter than the former.
A negative score due to a gap is the same as a positive score due to an extra years employment, and that's a harder mindset to overcome. Only the most toxic of workplaces would say "hey, they took a year out to raise a child, no way" but many workplaces would say " these two candidates appear equal except this one has an extra year's experience in $foo"
You're trying to defend this practise by suggesting it's 'only the most toxic workplaces', but that's not the case. Given two candidates who both have 5 years experience but one has a gap of a year to raise a baby, lots of companies will chose the other candidate. Talk to parents. Understand the problem. Companies assume that if you've taken a year once then you'll probably do it again if you have a second child, and consequently they avoiding hiring you. Don't be an apologist for those companies that do it.
