The Changing Dynamics of Pregnancy and Maternity Leave

When Katie Hanke, Denver, was pregnant with her first child, she worked right up until the day she went into labor. I feel like I had to do that, because you do not get your maternity leave or your vacation leave all at once. . . .you are gathering them up into a bucket.

She says she wishes that she could have stopped working when she was eight months along and not have to worry about the time afterwards. She added: I think that what goes through your head is, what if your water breaks? Can you even perform your duties, because your mind is in a different space.

She considers herself fortunate, because she was able to take 12 weeks of maternity leave and her boss approved her coming back as a part-time employee. That was more doable, she says.

Brandie Koskie, Lakewood, also considers herself fortunate, because she was working at a startup when she got pregnant and the male owners were incredibly supportive.

They offered to pay her for a six-week maternity leave, though they said she could take as much time as she wanted. In fact, at one point, when she tried working during her maternity leave, they told her they would change her passwords if they saw her working online again.

Koskie says the fact that they were proactive made her experience of early motherhood less stressful. Before they came to me, I really did have a lot of anxiety about what was happening; I couldn't really afford to take a maternity leave.

Tara Tubb, Arvada, had her first child when she was in graduate school, working two part-time jobs, and didn't have any benefits. With her second child, she was working for the city and took the job when she was pregnant. She was able to take six weeks of short-term disability and, since she was slated to return in December, her supervisor used her discretion to give her more time off during the slow season, allowing her to work from home.

While her new workplace was accommodating, she said that if she and her ex-husband had both had more time off for child care, things would have been less stressful. I have a friend who lives in Germany and she had twins last February and she is just now going back to work. Part of me wishes that I would have had the opportunity to do that. I really love working but would have liked that option.

Women Negotiate Leave Individually

Women have vastly different experiences when it comes to pregnancy and maternity leave, but that they all worry about patching together enough support to make things work.

The United States is the only industrialized country that does not have a national paid family leave program. The Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid leave to workers at companies with more than 50 employees. Only two-thirds of working Coloradans can use the FMLA, because they either work for a smaller company or can?t afford to take unpaid time off, according to a study by the National Partnership for Women and Families.

This leaves women to fend for themselves, relying mostly on state-based and privately paid leave programs. Compounding this problem is the rise of the gig economy, with nearly 42 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds freelancing instead of working a steady job with benefits. According to a 2017 study by the Freelancers Union and Upwork, 36 percent of the United States workforce is freelancing. And those numbers are going to continue to grow.

Our lack of pregnancy and maternal leave has an outsized impact on women. Essentially, in the United States today we are some of the worse of all industrialized nations with how well we care for our mothers and our babies, says Judith Knowlin, Longmont. That's not only true with the outcome for maternal morbidity and mortality, especially with premature births. The premature birth rates are extraordinary.

She says that our country could benefit from making sure women are supported after childbirth, physically and emotionally. Because right now there is kind of a cliff where, after she has her baby, she's dropped from care, she's often dropped from resources and she's left to figure it out on her own.

This causes many women to drop out of the workforce altogether; a large number of women say they are going back to work and, after the baby arrives, they do not go back to work because they are not supported enough to make things work. There is a strong cost associated with the loss of those employees, says Knowlin, adding that there is also a strong cost if women get back on their feet too quickly. Even with the healthiest and most straightforward birth, the body has done a lot, it has gone through a lot, it has done something miraculous and it needs time to heal.?

Another challenge that women face is the time prenatal visits take; and a few women either can't afford to take time off or are healthy and prefer to save their time off for after the baby comes.

Knowlin is the chief growth officer for Babyscripts and her company has implemented a technology for low-risk pregnancies that reduces office visits. Babyscripts offers remote monitoring and virtual care for pregnant mothers.

We collect a lot more data on her health and well-being than would otherwise be collected through the face-to-face visits, which leads to earlier intervention if something is going on. It needs to be prescribed by a physician or midwife. Knowlin feels that the Babyscripts technology is a game-changer for many women, but that more needs to be done.

Many women in the United States are back on their feet after giving birth, and are back moving, she says. But the rest of the world will always be there. The amount of time you spend now, attending to your physical recovery and your emotional stability, and working on bonding with your baby, will be given back to you tenfold if you take the proper amount of time. If you rush it, you will be paying for it tenfold.

Efforts to Provide Family Leave in Colorado Underway

Some politicians in Colorado are taking it upon themselves to address the family leave problem. Faith Winters, a congressional representative from Westminster, is one of the co-sponsors of the FAMLI (Family Medical Leave Insurance Program) Act, which would create a pool that could be used to supplement workers who need time off to care for a family member. The bill has been introduced twice before, though it failed. This year, the bill will most likely be introduced in March and Winters believes it will pass.

The reason is, that in Colorado one in four moms need to work, says Winters. She says the measure will help all family members because it extends beyond maternity leave. She knows of cancer patients who are foregoing chemotherapy because they can't afford to take time off and has even heard of family members taking their parents off life support over the phone, because they can't afford to be there.

She says that the bill is important because health outcomes improve with family leave measures in place; even breastfeeding rates go up. The bill creates an insurance pool where everyone, employers and employees, pay in. When you need leave, you draw from that pool for wage replacement.

The FAMLI Act also addresses the rise of the gig economy, she adds. If you are a freelancing 1099 employee, you can opt into the program, and the benefits are portable. So if you are driving Lyft at night and a teacher during the day, you pay in for both jobs, and would have access for wage replacement from both jobs.

As a mom herself, she knows how important it is that we support women through pregnancy and childbirth. ?For both my pregnancies, I was on bedrest before I gave birth, and I was lucky enough that my employer let me work from home, but I didn't have enough leave to cover bedrest before giving birth, says Winters. My second job, I didn't. In an attempt to make my leave last longer, I started going back to work three weeks after giving birth. I can't imagine these moms having to go back after two weeks, giving birth.

Lori DeBoer offers marketing, editing and ghostwriting services; visit her at www.lorideboer.com