Mandatory Paid Maternity Leave for U.S. 6 Months Currently, there is no Mandatory Paid Maternity Leave in place for working mothers in the United States. This does not just affect mothers, it affects our future. According to the Federal Medical Leave Act (FMLA) mothers are allowed 6 weeks (unpaid) time off for vaginal delivers and 8 weeks (unpaid) time off for caesarian deliveries if they meet the Federal Medical Leave Act requirements. Mothers are granted an additional 6 weeks for “baby-bonding” time to complete the 12 week absence. (Click here for more information in regards to FMLA in the United States Department of Labor website http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/ ) If a woman who becomes pregnant is absent due to pregnancy, this time is subtracted from her 12 weeks. If any mother who is like me is a high-risk pregnancy, by the time I did go out on Maternity Leave, I only had a few weeks left. Many working mothers work up until their due dates to spend every minute of their 12 week leave (or what could be left of it) with their new born child. Again, if any mother is like me, it’s when I can no longer stand on my own two feet due to pre-term labor and frequenting the hospital. Let me put it in plain English. Twelve (12) Weeks is NOT enough. For mothers, especially new mothers, having a baby is life changing and this is true for adoptive mothers. After giving birth there are so many elements to recovery; healing of the body (vaginal or caesarian), the child sleep schedule, newborn screening, learning to breastfeed and milk production, newborn check-ups, possible surgeries, and finally what many ignore as the Baby Blues, Postpartum Depression. Then it is also the added pressure for mothers to breastfeed, breastfeed, breastfeed! Breast is Best! On top of the new elements I listed and those that I did not list, a mother has to learn to breastfeed their child and establish their milk supply all in 12 weeks or less. For working mothers, we have little to no time to master even one of these before our employers are sending us “Welcome Back” emails or phone calls and our babies are being ripped from our arms. If we want healthier babies, and healthier mothers physically and most importantly mentally, give us more time with this person that we have been with for the past 37 weeks (if we are lucky). Katherine Stone Founder of Postpartum Progress writes: There were approximately 4.3 million live births in the United States in 2007. This statistic does not include fetal losses, including miscarriages and stillbirths. The National Vital Statistics Report indicates that the total number of clinically recognized pregnancies is around 6.4 million. This is important to know, because all postpartum women are susceptible to postpartum depression, regardless of the pregnancy’s outcome. So let’s split the difference between the high (20%) and low estimates of PPD (11%) and say that an average of 15% of all postpartum women in the US suffer, as the CDC reported in its 2008 PRAMS research. And let’s use the number of clinically recognized pregnancies and not live births. This would mean that each year approximately 950,000 women are suffering postpartum depression. BUT, did you know the CDC’s research only reflected self-reported cases of postpartum depression? How many women do you think did not mention they had PPD out of fear or shame? Should we increase the estimate of sufferers to 17% or 20%? ALSO, these numbers don’t take into account women who may have suffered other perinatal mood and anxiety disorders like PPOCD or postpartum psychosis. Should that make the numbers go even higher? I’d argue that the average number of new mothers who experience perinatal mood and anxiety disorders is more likely in the 20% range, which would mean around 1.3 million annually. How does that compare with the incidence among women of other major diseases in America? • Each year fewer women — approximately 800,000 — will get diabetes. (Nat’l Diabetes Information Clearinghouse) • Each year about 300,000 women suffer a stroke. (Centers for Disease Control) • Each year approximately 230,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. (National Cancer Institute) In fact, more mothers will suffer from postpartum depression and related illnesses this year than the combined number of new cases for both sexes of tuberculosis, leukemia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy. This is not to minimize these other terrible diseases, of course. I simply want to illustrate just how prevalent postpartum mood & anxiety disorders are. Dr. Ruta Nonacs of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School adds, “Postpartum depression is far more common than gestational diabetes. All women receiving prenatal care are screened for diabetes, but how many pregnant and postpartum women are screened for depression? PPD is also more common than preterm labor, low birth weight, pre-eclampsia and high blood pressure; in other words, PPD is the most common complication associated with pregnancy and childbirth.” I am not saying change the requirements of the Federal Medical Leave Act. I believe the requirements are fair for employees to meet before requesting time off. I am petitioning for the Federal Government to write in law Paid Maternity Leave for at least 24 weeks. In six (6) months, mothers and fathers will be able to create a conducive environment for their newborn, mothers can practice the art of breastfeeding and establishing an efficient milk supply to feed their infant, and foster a mentally and emotionally healthier mother to fight Postpartum Depression and other Perinatal Mood Disorders. As a nation, there is something we can do together to care for our most precious integral part of the future, our children. Sources Citied “How Many Women Get Postpartum Depression? The Statistics on PPD.” Postpartum Progress. Katherine Stone, 8 Oct. 2014. Web 18 Oct 2014. “Paid Parental Leave: US vs. The World (Inforpgrahic).” The Huffington Post. 10 Oct. 2014. Web 2 Feb. 2013