![Jess Ann Kirby discusses maternity leave experiences with women from all over the world.](https://www.jessannkirby.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Maternity-Leave-Experiences-1440x1440.jpg)
As many of you probably know by now, I wasn’t planning on getting pregnant or having children. Pregnancy has not been the easiest experience for me (of course I am happy and excited to be a mom). I say this first because I have never been more aware of how ignorant I was to the experience of pregnancy and motherhood. At my old job in Diversity & Inclusion consulting, I spent a lot of time researching this topic. Despite the fact that I knew the US is the only high-income country that doesn’t offer paid maternity leave on a federal level (it is guaranteed in 178 countries), I never fully grasped the absolute shamefulness of that. As a self-employed business owner, the first thing I thought about when I found out I was pregnant was how will I take time off of work? This business is the sole income for our household. It’s primarily run by me. The reality is, I can’t just shut down and step away for four months. While I am still figuring out how we will navigate leave once I have the baby, it has opened my eyes to the very real and difficult choices women and their families have to make every day.
When I asked for readers to submit their own maternity leave stories a few weeks ago I had no expectations, and I was humbled by how many of you shared your very real experiences. From vaginal birth to c-sections, premature delivery, surrogacy, and adoption one thing that struck me the most was the common phrase, “I’m lucky.” Having access to proper care and support for a new mother and her infant should not be due to luck, it should be a fundamental right. I hope that sharing these stories provides a sense of comfort and community to women going through this phase of life, as well as give those who (like me) might not fully grasp it, a better understanding of that experience. More importantly, I hope that this is just the beginning of creating awareness and pushing for meaningful change, because we can’t keep going like this. I have decided to turn this into a series of posts, including a follow-up with additional maternity leave stories, information and resources for how to best navigate maternity/family leave in the US, and a call to action for how we can push for change.
Below is a portion of the stories submitted by readers in the US and abroad. The experiences are different but all equally important to hear. Part two will go live in a few weeks. To give some additional context for maternity and family leave in the US, I’ve included some statistics below. I look forward to hearing your thoughts, feedback and continued dialogue on this subject.
US Maternity Leave by the Numbers
- Approximately 40 percent of women don’t qualify for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This is 12 weeks of protected job leave, unpaid, at the federal level. So if you do qualify, a family bringing a new child into their family (and therefore more expenses) is also expected to give up 3 months of income. (Source)
- Only 13 percent of private sector workers have access to paid family leave. (Source)
- Women are not only primary caregivers in the majority of US households, but over 60 percent of mothers are either breadwinners or co-breadwinners in their household.
- Four states currently have paid family leave- California, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Washington D.C. enacted a paid family leave measure which takes effect in July 2020. Washington state passed a paid family leave program to take effect at the beginning of 2020. Massachusetts recently passed paid family and medical leave that will begin in 2021. Connecticut it set to pass a family and medical leave act that would go into effect in 2022. (Source)
Maternity Leave Experiences
Lena, Connecticut
When I found out I was pregnant with my son, now 4 years old, my husband and I left our jobs in Boston and moved to a small town in CT where my husband grew up. We both began working for his family’s business. My position was part-time, 3 days per week. I negotiated with my boss, who is also my father-in-law, for a 2 month unpaid maternity leave. When I returned to work, however, I would bring my son with me. (Provided I was able to keep up with my work and that the baby didn’t prove a huge distraction for the rest of the office.) I felt so fortunate to be able to keep my son close those first months. It proved to be a huge benefit for breastfeeding, as I was able to nurse him throughout the day instead of pumping. At 9 months old, when he needed more attention than I could provide while still getting my work done, we enrolled him in daycare.
The 2 months I initially took off were not enough. I struggled with postpartum anxiety, which didn’t begin to resolve until my son was 3 months old. My husband had only taken 1 week off after his birth, and I often felt overwhelmed and unsupported. When we were expecting our daughter last year, we negotiated a more generous maternity leave. I would take 3 months paid leave, my husband would take 1 month followed by a flexible schedule that would allow him to work from home regularly.
Then, despite no pre-term birth risk factors and a completely normal pregnancy (until that day!), I unexpectedly went into labor at 26 weeks and my daughter was born weighing 2 lbs 5 ounces. I was discharged from the hospital after 48 hours, while she would go on to live in the NICU for the next 99 days before we could bring her home. For the first couple of months, everything about our daughter’s future health and well-being remained relatively unknown. She was at high-risk for many short- and long-term health issues. Not knowing what future support she might need, we made the only decision we felt comfortable with, which was for me to leave work permanently. When she was 9 weeks old I officially gave my notice that I wouldn’t be returning to work. (My boss, being my father-in-law, was obviously understanding.) This maternity leave was drastically different from my first. I spent my days in the hospital with my baby, and my evenings at home with my husband and son.
For me, the choice to stop working was easy, but most NICU parents don’t have the option. All the other NICU moms I met during my daughter’s stay had to budget their maternity leave strategically. For most, this meant returning to work soon after their baby’s birth so the remaining days off could be used when the baby actually came home from the hospital. Then you’re left to balance working full-time, caring for older siblings at home, and visiting your preemie in the hospital when possible. One of the moms I became close with used to visit her daughter at 4am every morning, it was the only time she could get there.
Since coming home, my daughter has been thriving and meeting all her milestones. By every measure, she’s a healthy, happy, almost 1-year-old baby. I have no plans to return to work in the near future, though I probably will once she begins school. I’m so thankful that we’re able to make things work financially as a one-income household. And I’m beyond grateful for two healthy, happy children.
Liza, Philadelphia
I’m entering week three of maternity leave with my firstborn, who was born via gestational carrier (surrogate). I live in Philadelphia but, up until a year ago, was working remotely from NYC through a New York-based company. I did not consider this when I switched to a Philly-based job last October, and lost all my eligibility for New York’s paid parental leave, which would have covered 55-65% of my income for twelve weeks.
My current job’s leave policy is totally dismal. It’s even worse if you’re adopting, and worse still if your baby is born via surrogacy. Because I wasn’t pregnant and she’s a blood relative (we have an adoption policy for leave that only covers non-blood-relatives), I was only eligible for one paid week during my 12 weeks of FMLA. On top of that, because I work in education and we get some school vacations, I only accrue 18 flexible sick/vacation days per year. Convenient when you want to take off spring break, but not so much when you need to bank days for a baby.
I’m lucky that my direct manager saw how crazy this was and was willing to work with me on it. To cobble as much as possible together, I’m taking comp time for spring break and our “shutdown week” in June, then taking all my vacation and going into the red by another 40 hours. This means I only have to take five of my twelve weeks unpaid—but that still requires me to replace $7,500 of income somehow. I’ve been saving and am cashing out a small IRA to cover it.
If you’re on FMLA, company holidays don’t apply to you. So while I’ll be out on Thanksgiving, and all my colleagues are getting paid not to work, I’ll be taking those days unpaid because while I’m on leave, and ineligible for holiday pay. I’m going back to work one day before we close down for Christmas just so I can be reinstated.
On top of the expenses of surrogacy and just of raising a kid in general, this has been inordinately stressful. We are also in a tough spot for childcare, as my husband runs a start-up and doesn’t pay himself consistently, but can’t be a stay-at-home dad and work as much as he needs to. We’re so happy to have our amazing, sweet, loving baby (who’s sleeping on me as I write this), but it would be wonderful not to be semi-panicked about money during the entirety of my leave.
Brooke, Virgina
My due date was Feb 13, 2018, and the week before I didn’t want to go into the office anymore. Wearing any work appropriate clothing was impossible, sitting at a desk was awful, staying awake and on task was difficult… so I started working from home for a few hours each day at that point. I let the office know each day what I was doing. Then went into labor on a Sunday, baby was born on Monday and I think I told them late on Monday.
I had insurance paperwork and everything all done way ahead of time. My plan was to take 3 – 4 months, unpaid and I would just let them know when I was ready to come back. Which they were fine with; this is very uncommon in architecture, and maybe in all businesses.
I took about 15 weeks, and asked to work from home when I came back, because of the nursing schedule. (No one else at my firm works from home, and there is one other woman who is having children right now. Everyone one else is 50’s or older.) Pumping was terrible for me, and I wanted to nurse my baby, to maintain my supply better and to get that time with him. I was available via phone conference for our managers meetings. I started back to work after 15 weeks, and had a minimum number of hours to work each week to keep health insurance.
My firm was incredibly flexible and willing to let me start back when I was ready – within reason. I really didn’t want to go back to work, but this is our only option for affordable health insurance right now. I wish I had taken at least 4 full months, or maybe 4 and a half. Our 4 month sleep regression was very real, and it was hard balancing 4 hours of sleep, 6 hours of total nursing time, and working/billing 5-6 hours a day. I was exhausted and felt guilty knowing I wasn’t giving my usual 100% to my job.
Now my “baby” is 19 months, and I am still working primarily from home. I am up to about 7 hours a day, and I go into the office for a few hours a couple of times per week. But I would say it took me until 15-16 months to feel really productive and functional again.
Christine, Chicago
I was told you get 6 weeks of leave through FMLA with vaginal delivery and 8 weeks with c section. Then the additional time for the 12 weeks you had to use from your PTO and sick days. Our sick days could accumulate so I had 3 weeks of sick days to use and 3 weeks of vacation I could use to fulfill my 12 weeks. I ended up having a c section and was told because there was not a medical complication (thought my c section was a complication of not being able to vaginally deliver… but I digress), I still only got 6 weeks of FMLA and wasn’t able to use my PTO to try and extend my leave. My husband took 2 weeks off, but he is a consultant so while he took that time off, he was not paid.
My son was born in September, and with cold and flu season just starting, and coupled with my postpartum anxiety, we didn’t leave the house much. After 12 weeks of leaving the house less than 10 times, I was very much ready to get back and have adult conversation. I also had a very structured schedule and a good baby, which likely made my experience much better than some.
Going back to work was awful. I was exclusively pumping at this point. My first day back my boss told me I had to get through my almost 1k amount of emails, get caught up on where all my client accounts were and do a 25+ market campaign within the same day. I also had a new computer I needed to set up. I was instantly overwhelmed and was in charge of picking up my son by 6pm (when daycare closed). My commute was 55 minutes so I had to leave right at 5. I also had to figure out how to pump at work and get acclimated to that. I pumped three times initially, 15 minutes at a time, but had a laptop so I was able to work while I pumped. The first month back I lost 20 lbs from illness and stress.
Things did not get better. I ultimately ended up leaving my job to grow my family business which is a different story. While I was ready to go to work, I think my job was the reason it was a bad work/life balance, not necessarily the time off. Though I think going back later, I may have had a better experience. Who’s to say? I think my biggest disappointment was how insurance played out with my time off and the pay.
Bailey, New Jersey
I’m 32, back at work for 3 months post maternity leave. I took the full amount of what my company offers. It was just under 6 months. 16 weeks fully paid by the company and the rest are supplemented through the state at about 2/3 of your salary. My husband took 2 weeks.
I had an emergency situation during my labor. Everyone is ok, but at the time I suffered an injury from childbirth so while recovering I wasn’t allowed to drive, walk, or pick up anything heavier than baby. I was essentially on bed rest for the first few weeks. I personally went through all the ups and downs of healing after the craziness that is childbirth, and I needed support (both emotional and physical). We had a baby nurse (this is sort of a jewish thing) come for 5 days and I VERY MUCH wish we had her longer. They help you so you can sleep at night and they bring the baby to you if you’re breastfeeding in the middle of the night then let you go back to sleep after and they stay up with baby. They also help you with how to bathe baby, what to pack for the first pediatrician appointment, and more. After the baby nurse left my mom stayed for a few weeks. My mom was honestly more around to take care of me which I so needed in that time.
In total, I had about 6 months, my husband for 2 weeks, a baby nurse for 5 days, and my mom for about a month. I wish I had my husband longer, because I was scared and overwhelmed but unfortunately we didn’t have that flexibility. I started to heal and be able to do more around 3/4 months postpartum but of course that’s just when I started to think about going back to work. I think 9 months is perfect for a mom that wishes to go back to work.
Brandis
Our son came to us through adoption. Our story is kind of all over the place for a few reasons though- one, I’m self employed. I own a business that basically cannot run without me, so even though I had an employee helping out when my son was born, I couldn’t stay away too long. Second, it all happened so quickly. We were trying to adopt for about 4 months before he was born. He came a week and a half after we were matched. It was all, so so fast.
He was born on a Friday. We got the call at about 7am that he was on the way, & we had an 8hr drive ahead of us to get to him. I called my employee then & told her I’d be unavailable the rest of the day.
We brought him home (by home, I mean an Airbnb we had rented because he was born in another state and we couldn’t cross state lines with him until that state had spoken to our home state etc) from the hospital on Sunday. Monday morning I was working. I remember (vaguely because it’s all an exhaustion blur) working sometimes at 4am because he had woken for a bottle and gone back to sleep and I thought, ‘well, now I have sometime…’
I thought as a newborn it would be easy- I’d take him into the office with me, I’d feed him when needed, he’d sleep and I’d work. Ahhh the naivety of a professional woman whose never had or been around kiddos. I was clueless. I took him to the office once. After that I worked from home for about 6 months. Work suffered, but he is worth it. I don’t remember much about that first year honestly- it’s a freaking blur.
If I could have, I would have absolutely taken time to just learn being a mom. I thought I wouldn’t need maternity because my body didn’t need healing. But what I didn’t realize was that my entire life changed in a matter of 24 hours. Not just having a child- but your entire schedule, sleeping/ eating/ life in general changes. You can’t just run to the store anymore. You live in a state of constant jet lag. Like that, everything is new. And you need the time to adjust. Being the breadwinner in my family, I couldn’t have taken leave if I had wanted to. But it did make me realize how important it is to offer to families. Dads too- their lives have changed just as much.
Sara
I’m currently on maternity leave with my second. For both of my daughters I took 8 weeks paid leave and 12 unpaid. I’m a teacher and felt fortunate to have 8 weeks of paid leave, some of my friends in other fields only have 6 weeks paid. The additional 12 weeks unpaid was the maximum I could take and still maintain my insurance- I carry insurance for my family so this was important.
I personally felt like going back when my girls were 4/5 months old was enough time for me. Maternity leave was a wonderful time of bonding and connecting with my girls but I felt that I lost a part of me that connected to my personal goals that centered around my career. The balancing act that has followed has been tough for sure but I feel more fulfilled and empowered when I work and I love that I can be that mom and role model for my girls.
Erica, Rhode Island
I’ve always worked full time, mostly in an industry that is highly emotional. The idea of taking so much time off was overwhelming for me to think about. I think having a baby later in life added to my anxiety, in regard to the thought of losing my identity. Who am I if I’m not working? Work was this thing that always defined me, or rather it was how I defined myself. The anticipation of being out of work was way more difficult than actually disconnecting when it came down to it. As soon as she was here, thinking about work was the last thing on my mind.
I received 12 weeks paid leave, and in RI we also receive TDI and TCI so I took 5 months off. I did have the option to take up to a year off, and have my job held for me. Financially, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take that much time off. Mentally, a year seemed crazy. My husband received no paid leave. He took a week off, and then went back to work full time. I was very happy when he came home every day – it was nice to have someone else to talk to, and I wasn’t used to being alone so much. I really enjoyed the alone time to bond with our daughter. Especially because breastfeeding didn’t work out for me, I think that time alone really helped us bond in ways that I honestly did worry about missing.
At 3 months, I was 100% not ready to go back. It took me about 6 weeks just to get comfortable with the idea that I now had this tiny little person to care for and keep alive. By the time my 5 months was up, I was ready to go back to work. I was excited to go back, get dressed, have adult conversations again, and figure out who I was now that this job was no longer something I defined myself by.
Tess, Virginia
I’m a teacher and my son was born in the summer, about two weeks before the new school year would start for teachers. Our current family leave policy allows us to take paid leave (from our sick leave pool, so, depends on how many hours you have accrued) for 6 weeks if it’s a vaginal birth, 8 weeks for c-section. I qualified for the 6 weeks. It’s counted from the day of birth. My first paycheck after his birth was still on the 2017-18 school year contract (summer pay, so sick leave wasn’t needed because I get my salary paid throughout the entire year). I asked if I could start my 6 weeks sick leave when the 2018-19 year started and that was denied. So, I got about 4 weeks of paid leave (the district paid me back for 60% of those hours through short-term disability coverage), then about 2.5 weeks of leave without pay. Employer insurance meant that they had to dip into my first few paychecks once I returned, to cover the insurance coverage I had while on unpaid leave (and thus they didn’t have paychecks to take my premium from).
My husband got 8 weeks paid leave from his employer, to split as he pleased over the first full year. He took the first month off, and it was so, so good for us to have that time to figure out the new routines together. He switched jobs in January, but the new job has a similar leave policy for him (if not better).
Our son started daycare when he was 9 weeks old (ours is close to my school, and opens early so I can drop him off before the 7:30 bell). Going back to work was WILD, I strongly recommend not starting the school year over a month in. My bosses were flexible and accommodating when I needed time off for sick baby, or sick me. But I was definitely grappling with figuring out a lot of new stuff at once, and it was hard. I’m glad I’m back at work (teaching is a big part of my identity), but it’s absurd that a field that has so many women in it AND is supposed to be about serving children, has such atrocious family leave policies.
Jess, New Jersey
I went back to work and sent both my sons to daycare at 12 weeks of age. The first time I really didn’t want to go back to work. I was devastated and would calculate the hours on my fingers trying to figure out how I could somehow get more waking hours with him than the daycare did. Somehow when my second son was born it was a little easier. I had all these fears at the beginning that I wouldn’t have enough time with them, that it would ruin my bonding experience, etc. My kids are now 12 and 10 years old – and we couldn’t be closer. They were happy at daycare and I was always mom. My husband did not really ever take time off (other than a few days). His job is the bulk of our income so that made the most sense financially.
I actually work at a daycare! Previously I was an elementary school teacher, but I started there shortly after my first son was born. So over the years I’ve seen lots of parents bring their babies at varying ages. There are a whole bunch of positives my children and the children I work with get from the daycare experience. I really wanted to stay home with my boys when I had them. Financially there was no way. Over time I’ve realized that working makes me a better parent, partner, person. Not saying that’s true for everyone – but definitely is for me. My husband and I went from not wanting to ever have kids (or get married) to where we are now. Life.
Caitriona, Rhode Island
Maternity leave is a beautiful, wonderful time with your little one that you will never get back… but some days it’s also long and lonely. My first I honestly had no idea what I was doing. He had a 2 hour evening witching hour, that felt like it was never going to end. When my husband would finally get home, I would be thrilled to have someone sharing in the parenting, and both figuring out how to soothe and calm him down. Then right when you get into a rhythm, and have it kind of worked out, it’s time to go back to work.
Rhode Island is pretty great, meaning you actually get paid a little from the state. I come from Ireland, and over there women take off before baby comes, and can take up to 18 months, with usually 12 paid. The company I worked with for my two kids (tomorrow is my last day with them), did not pay me, and also had me pay back my health insurance while I was out. It made me realize that I did not want to work for a company that didn’t look out for their employees, and made me make this jump into a new job 4 weeks after I came back. My husband took 10 days with our first, and our second he could only take 4-5 days.
We balance our parenting routine pretty evenly. I do all the kids lunches for daycare, I pump/nurse the new baby, and he does drop offs, my mother and I split pick ups. It takes a village, more like a town to raise these little cherubs, but those little smiles when you walk into picking them up from their day at ‘Aunties’ daycare, makes it all worth it… and wine, wine helps at the end of the crazy days.
Kate, Virginia
I’m 36 and have two kids. My son is 3 and my daughter just turned 7 months. I took 12 weeks with each. My employer offers 8 weeks of paid parental leave and I stockpiled vacation days to get to the full 12 (I say “full” since 12 weeks is what is covered by FMLA). My husband took 2 weeks for our first child, but his company thankfully expanded their paternity leave and he got 4 weeks with our daughter. I definitely would have loved to have him home longer.
I was thankful to be able to take that much time. I couldn’t imagine going back 4 or even 6 weeks after, which many women do. I had a relatively issue-free labor both times, but postpartum is no joke. The physical recovery was much more intense than I thought it would be, plus you’re trying to figure out this whole “take care of a newborn” thing!
Looking back, I wish I had more time. I fully understand how fortunate I am to a) get paid leave b) have smooth birth experiences with no real complications for me and baby and c) have a supportive partner who shares 50% of the work taking care of a baby, all things that help make the transition easier. But they are only babies for so long, and like everyone says it goes by so fast. Plus, we’re done having kids. So my time at home with them is finished. Won’t have time like that ever again. It makes me sad.
The only other piece I’ll add is about breastfeeding. This was really important to me. I breastfed my first for a year and a half and we’re going strong with my daughter. Having 3 months at home to really get the hang of that was crucial for me. If I had to leave them after a month, I don’t think I could have stuck with it. My employer also supports me pumping three times a day at work. The time at home with your newborn is so special and fleeting and hard and wonderful. The US really needs to get with the program and support our parents and their babies.
Kavita, The Netherlands
I am an Australian expat living here (with a Dutch passport). We are given the exact same health care rights that all Dutch people have. I pay circa €140 per month on health insurance. This is for one of the “best coverage” packages which I elected to get knowing that I wanted to have a child this year. A basic health insurance package comes in at €100. It is compulsory for everyone who lives in The Netherlands to buy health insurance.
The overarching philosophy on childbirth here is that it is a natural process and not a medical procedure. In light of this – here is an overview:
When you find out you’re pregnant, you call your local midwife clinic and let them know. Each town has at least one and you can choose to go there or any other one you want. The clinic has a rotation of 3-4 midwives. You will meet them all and when you are ready to give birth – the one “on duty” will usually be present.
Each midwife clinic visit costs around €33. This is always covered by insurance (even basic insurance). Ultrasound Scans are completed by the midwife 3 times during your pregnancy. 12 weeks, 20 weeks and 32 weeks. These are free. Extra scans can be requested and if they are not medically required they cost around €30.
Birthing options include home birth, birth clinic or hospital birth.
For home birth, the midwife will come to your house and deliver the baby. This is free. For a clinic birth the midwife will meet you at the clinic and deliver the baby. These are often attached or very close by to hospitals but pain relief is limited. There is a small fee which is covered by basic insurance. A hospital birth, the midwife will meet you at the hospital and hand you over to the hospital midwives.
I elected for a hospital birth. This was covered in my insurance package meaning I would have NO out of pocket expenses. With a basic insurance package there is a small fee for electing to have a hospital birth. This has a maximum cost of around €350 no matter how many days you end up having to stay. Drugs are not encouraged – if electing for an epidural the risks are clearly outlined and you’re required to consent to them- even if you have an epidural you are encouraged to “turn it down” for birth so you can maintain some control and push most effectively- babies are placed skin to skin immediately and the cord is cut within 5 minutes. There is no rush to weigh and measure baby. Skin to skin is most important. Most natural births result in the mother going home within 6-8 hours of having given birth. I gave birth at 14:30 and was home by 20:00. The true cost of my birth was around €2500. This included the room, drugs, care, blood work etc. My insurer paid this and I never saw a bill.
Post Birth Care
Everyone, I mean EVERYONE is “given” a baby nurse for 40 hours immediately following birth. This is usually split over a 5-7 day period. They meet you at your home after the delivery. In my case: we came home at 8pm, a nurse arrived at 9pm to answer questions and settle us all down for the night. At 8:30am the next morning our permanent nurse arrived. She stayed with us the full week. Her duties include everything to do with care of the mother and baby. Medical check ups, teaching us everything, making sure the environment is safe, cooking meals, monitoring guests and visitors, forcing the mother to nap, breast feeding help etc. The true cost of the baby nurse is €2500 but as mentioned, all insurance packages cover the majority of this. Sometimes there is a “contribution” that must be paid which equates to around €100. If you have more than the basic insurance – you don’t pay this. I actually cried when our baby nurse left – she really was such a vital person for us in those first days when you’re tempted to google everything (and scare yourself silly).
Maternity leave
For Western Europe, the Netherlands is quite far behind. We have 16 weeks paid leave. Minimum 4 weeks before birth and 12 after – adjusted if you give birth too early or late of course… we are also legally entitled to unpaid parental leave which is 26 times your weekly hourly working hours. In my case… 40 hours x 26 = 1,040 hours. I choose to take 1 Friday off (8 hours) every fortnight which means for circa 3.24 years I can take every second Friday (unpaid) off work.
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Good for you Jess for highlighting this. I’m a british follower and – while I knew the U.S. was bad – I had no idea just what a struggle it was. In the UK, I think most people in work are entitled to 12 months, even if it’s not all paid at full rate. I was self-employed when my daughter was born and got 9 months of statutory (government) maternity pay (not a huge amount – we dipped into savings) but enough to cover basic expenses. And it was my decision to leave my previous employer before falling pregnant where I’d have had a much more generous maternity package. Second time around I’m employed by a small business. Even though I fell pregnant very soon after starting with them, which means I’m not really entitled to anything from them, they couldn’t have been more supportive. I still qualify for 9 months statutory, but my company are guaranteeing my job on return and have been so understanding about the appointments I’ve had to have this time around. Reading these stories, I’m also beyond grateful for the NHS. My second pregnancy has been a bit more complex than my first and I’ve ended up having so many more scans, consultant appointments and time with midwives. ALL of these appts have been covered by the NHS, including open access to a physiotherapist that will last until three weeks post-partum. I have felt able to walk into my local hospital maternity triage every single time I’ve had a concern and, while I might have had to wait sometimes, I’ve always been seen and I’ve never had to consider the financial implications of my decision to have that extra review. I can’t imagine the additional stress you guys in the US experience when pregnant or post-partum if you have those extra concerns. I’ve even been able to save a little more for this second baby because at 3 my daughter qualified for paid childcare (all children are entitled to a minimum of 15h per week at 3). The UK might be in a horrible mess right now politically (let’s not get started on that one!) but this issue has made me incredibly thankful for what I do have here.
You’re so right to say that having access to proper care and support to mothers and families shouldn’t be “luck” but a fundamental right. But after reading this I must say I’m very lucky. Here in Portugal we have free health care during pregnancy within the national health care service and after birth we’re intitled to 4 to 5 months of fully paid maternity leave (5 if taken by only the mother or 4 by the mother + 1 by the father). The father has 15 mandatory days off in the first month and 10 more if he so chooses. You can also take 3 extra months with 25% pay. That’s what I chose with both my babies and it was still hard to leave them after 8 months. I was ready to get back to work and enjoy some “grown up time” but I think it would be nice to phase things instead of going back full time. A 4 month old baby is way to young and needy to be separated from his/her mother, as well as too young to be in daycare exposed to all the viruses…and also it’s only around that time that I finally was finding my groove after my world being turned upside down. I know that there are countries where parents are offered 1 or 2 years of paid leave which sounds amazing! I’m kind of shocked after reading this post, as I had no idea that such an amazing country like the US could be so behind on this subject.
I hope you can make it work so you can enjoy your baby full time for as long as possible! I’ve seen one blogger delegate the posts to outside colaborators for a while in order to really disconect and enjoy her baby. Maybe that could be an option. Whatever you choose, you have our support! Wish you the best of luck!
It is crazy when I hear stories from those of you in other countries that have guaranteed paid time off after having a newborn, to think about the fact that we have absolutely none. I am sure I will figure it out and find a way to make it work, but I hope we can come up with better solutions for mothers.
Thank you for this. It’s extremely validating. I work for myself (I’m a psychotherapist in private practice), and my husband works long hours in television. We’re lucky in so many ways, but giving birth and then being totally alone (couldn’t afford help when I wasn’t ALSO working) all day when my husband had to go back to work seemingly the second we got home from the hospital — it was the hardest time of my life. I also had postpartum anxiety, and mental health support is so hard to access as a new parent when you don’t have childcare or a ton of cash. If it hadn’t been for my mom helping when she could (which didn’t feel like enough then, but it did save me) I might have gone completely under. Families need and deserve so much more support than they have in the US — and if I struggled that much with the resources I had, it infuriates me what those mothers without insurance, without partners, without stable housing, etc. are going through. It doesn’t have to be this way.
It’s absolutely insane that, even as a psychotherapist, it was difficult for you to access the care you needed. We are stuck in the dark ages. I couldn’t agree more, it does not have to be this way.
Dear Jess,
It was such an eye opener for me to read all the stories you posted about these wonderful woman and their experiences. I am an American woman who has been living in Austria for 38 years now. I had 2 children 23 and 26 years ago and must say how very, very fortunate I was to be able to have my children in this Country. Our medical care ist taken out of our pay checks every month, so you never see or miss this money. Everything is covered by our medical here (which is mandatory). All doctor visits, ultra sounds, just everything is paid for. You get paid maternity leave 8 weeks prior to your expected birth date and 2 years of paid maternity leave after delivery. If you are a single parent you get 3 years paid maternity leave. The amount of money is basically the same for all mothers but if you want to go back to work earlier than you can earn a certain amount and still take advantage of the money from the government. I for myself can only say that our children are our future. They should be our first priority when we are blessed with them. I was never sure that I even wanted children, it wasn’t planed but it sure was the best that ever happened to me. I find it so human that this Country supports growing families and gives woman the opportunity to stay home with their children at the most important time not having the burden of worrying about income, insurance, loosing their jobs or sick leave making ends meet, pumping milk at work, etc. Your life changes from one hour to the next. There is no manual for the perfect parent or child. Every situation is different. Every child is different. The system here gives you the opportunity to adjust, gives you time with your child at the most important time in their lives and probably yours. I enjoyed every moment of having the “luxury” of just being a mom for 4 years. How many woman can say that? In our fast moving world today this is not very common. Honestly I could not imagine having to bring my 3 or 6 or 9 week old baby to a daycare center everyday at 7:30 a.m. and picking them up at 5:00p.m. I know that this is the reality for so many woman in the U.S.. So very sad. I applaud you for encouraging others to have a voice and enforce a change so maybe one day the system will change. Jess, I wish you all the best for you your beautiful child and your family. I hope you will have the chance to savor this magical time in your life. It’s not always easy, but then again what is easy in life. There is no day without the night, no sun without the moon. So take one step at a time and I truly hope you will have the time to takes those steps without the pressure.
It’s just so crazy to hear these stories from women all over the world who can’t fathom not having any form of maternity or family leave. Meanwhile PPD and PPA are on the rise in this country which I am convinced is directly related to the lack of support, financial stress, and increased pressure on women to get back to work quickly after having a baby. I really hope we can push for meaningful change. The systems in place right now do not put any value on families.
I don’t fit into this new and young group of moms. I have my grown children and I had a five day hospital stay to relax and was lucky enough to have a nurse for a few weeks as well. I have complete faith that you, Jess will indeed figure out how to continue your blog and your family income while enjoying this unplanned blessing and challenge that you were given. I just have this feeling that you are going to not only do well but fall in love with this baby! Sending love and a safe journey into an incredible experience❤️❤️
Alexandra, Atlanta
It scares me reading all these comments. For me, as an European woman if feels so brutal. Women in Romania, my native country get 2 years maternity leave. Yes, you read correct. 2 years of staying at home, being paid and taking care of your little kid.
It’s absolutely shameful the lack of support here. We’re so far behind.
I found it hard to read these women’s accounts of their experiences before and after having a baby in the US. I’m British but living in Norway, where I’ve just returned to work after having a baby. Here parents can choose whether they take 49 weeks of leave paid at 100% of their salary, or 59 weeks paid at 80%. Parents can choose how to share that leave, although the mother must take 3 weeks before the birth and the first 6 weeks after, and the other parent must take at least 15 weeks. After the 11-13 months of paid leave, each parent is entitled to an additional 12 months of unpaid leave i.e. 3 years in total for each child. Every child has the right to a subsidised nursery place when they’re 1 year old (sometimes slightly before or after their 1st birthday), and the cost of this is capped at about $300 a month, regardless of whether it is a private or state run institution. If you choose to stay at home instead of taking up your place, you can receive about $800 a month grom the state if both parents have lived in Norway for over 5 years. I’ve returned to work to allow my husband to take his share of the paid leave, and when he returns I will be taking 10 months of unpaid leave so that we can be at home with our baby until she is 2 years old. It genuinely breaks my heart to think that any other parent would not be able to enjoy the same rights to be at home with their child as we enjoy here in Norway, and that they would be forced to prioritise work over family. This doesn’t feel right at all, and I’m not sure that financially it even makes sense on a macro economic level when you start to think about the one parent (who otherwise would like to be in paid work) having to drop out of the work force to look after children.
I am always gobsmacked by the US system and especially people over there thinking it’s normal and that anyone who want paid leave is a commie. No, it’s not shameful to need financial support after literally creating the new generation of taxpayers.
I live in the Czech Republic and the system here is very generous as the government realises that they need to support birth rate and not let their new families struggle.
As for healthcare, it’s pains from your wage but you don’t really see it taken out and the sum isn’t so bad. Everyone has to pay health insurance either through their job, as a freelancer or by being eligible to the government paying it for you (on maternal/parental leave, disabled, retired people). All basic and necessary care is covered. Throughout my pregnancy I paid about 5 dollars for an extra scan, that’s all.
So we start with maternal leave 6 -8 week before estimated due date. This maternity leave is calculated from your pay and lasts for 26 weeks. After that ends, parental leave starts. Every mother (or father) is entitled to a lump sum of money which she chooses how to disperse into monthly payments varying from a year to 4 years. I chose 2 because the amount seems sensible and my job will allow for me to still spend quality time at key stages of baby’s life.
You are welcome to make some money while on parental leave which allows for keeping up with you profession and not losing your marbles by being a SAHM for so long.
I work one afternoon a week a love coming back home to my LO.
Of course there are little exceptions and also benefits for single mothers and people in need but I won’t bore you with that.
I simply don’t understand why parents in the US are fully expected to pay for their health insurance at such high rates and out of pocket in hospital, not be paid leave be made to just drop their offspring in nurseries shortly after.
I mean, even in the middle ages, women were expected to rest for six weeks before getting back to work. Sure, pregnancy is not an illness but your body takes a massive hit, like it or not.
I’m so appreciative of the fact that my country expects me to put my best efforts into bringing up a human being and work to live, not live to work.
Sorry for the novel
As a child-free women (who partially made this choice because of the lack of pregnancy/maternal support in the U.S.), I am IN LOVE WITH your content on your journey toward motherhood and your exploration of the topics surrounding it. No one (NO ONE) has wanted to listen to me when I’ve said, “If I lived in X country, I’d consider a family, but not here,” except, not ironically, unsupported moms in their first few years. It’s not un-American to want a better experience for families. I appreciate the honest conversation and your looping other moms in for a more comprehensive view of the experience. We need better medical care and support for women across the board in this country, including during and after maternity.
A note: some of my friends who gave birth while in graduate school and who had no income support qualified for WIC dollars after birth. I don’t know much about this, and know it wasn’t much, but maybe something to look into for any readers facing childbirth without paid leave in the U.S.
It’s so crazy because there is so much judgement around the decision to have children, and yet, in this country there is absolutely no safety net or support system when/if you do decide to (and don’t get me started on the lack of family planning resources and general attack on reproductive rights making it especially harder for low income women). I always knew it was bad here, but hearing from so many women in other countries that can’t even fathom the system we have in place, and from women here and the sacrifices they have to make to have a family, it has been incredibly eye opening. And to your point, one of the main reasons I held off on ever having children was because of the lack of resources and support. And of course now all I get asked is why only one child? Well, there’s a lot of reasons, but one of the main reasons is financial. We are stuck in the dark ages and the reality is we can’t continue this way.
At 16 weeks, I am just figuring out a plan for maternity leave, and this was so insightful. I work in communications and development, but am technically an hourly employee so am not eligible for paid maternity leave. It is so disappointing how far behind the US is in terms of benefits and rights for parents when it comes to parental leave–how can we change this?! Excited for part 2.
Thank you so much for sharing these stories, Jess. It’s really unacceptable that we don’t have a better leave policy here in the States. Every other developed country has excellent (or at least 100x better) policies than ours. I will also note that Massachusetts passed family leave legislation as well, which entitles you to 12 week paid for family leave and up to 24 weeks paid medical leave, which will go into effect on January 2021. It’s not great, but it’s something.