Elinor’s Story

I am a stay at home mom with two children, a former Human Resources professional, and a recently turned activist. I support paid leave because I have seen how a lack of a paid leave program causes people a great amount of stress when they should instead be focusing on their own health, their babies or a sick loved one.

My son Henry was born January 1, 2016. During my third trimester we learned that he was not growing in the womb due to IUGR (infant uterine growth restriction).

In December, my doctor encouraged me to stop working to reduce stress. I took her advice. My son was delivered via c-section a day shy of 36 weeks. He was 3 lbs 12 oz. Most babies at 36 weeks are 5 to 6 lbs.

Luckily, my son Henry was healthy. He just needed to grow.

My mother in-law would drive me to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) because my husband had to work and I was not yet cleared to drive. I could barely walk. I pumped round the clock to stay ahead of his feedings. One evening my husband drove to the hospital at 11 pm and at 4 am to deliver breast milk.

At the NICU I spoke to mothers who had been there longer than myself. They were frustrated how short term disability only covered the recovery of the mother, not the baby. Most likely, they were going to have to go back to work either before or when their babies were discharged from the hospital.

My son was in the NICU for 3 weeks. My husband had a good job, so we were financially prepared for me to take the rest of my leave unpaid. But what if that was not the case? I can not imagine the extra burden those worries about finances could have caused, and possibly done damage to the focus I needed to give my son during that time.

The March of Dimes has a huge presence in the NICU and they support paid leave. According to a 2018 March of Dimes issue brief they state: “Society shares an obligation to support new families as well as individuals who are sick themselves or need to care for others. An international evaluation of paid leave policies showed that for every increase of 10 weeks of paid maternity leave, there was a 10% lower neonatal and infant mortality rate.”

Earlier this year, I started a group called Paid Leave for ME on Facebook. The recovery from my daughter’s birth was also difficult and I suffered from postpartum depression. My mind was made up. We as a community need to start taking care of each other! I had to speak for others who were not as fortunate as myself. I started our Facebook Group on March 14th and to date (5.16.19) we have 225 members. This, to me, is a sign that the people want paid leave for Maine.

Have a story to tell? Visit our paid leave story form and join the conversation!