Theresa’s Story

My husband and I both worked for different small businesses with less than 50 employees. With no paid family and medical leave, I only had 1 week of paid vacation. I worked three jobs throughout my entire pregnancy so I could save money for a decent maternity leave. It was one of the hardest things I had to plan for, not knowing what babies need or how much they cost. I worked 6-7 days a week, most days being 12+hours.

For my birthday, I started a Facebook fundraiser, asking my friends and family for contributions to my maternity leave fund rather than gifts. I received over $2,000 from my fundraiser and saved about $2,500 from my various jobs. I was able to stay home for about 14 weeks, but my husband was only able to stay home for one week, unpaid.

Paid leave would have alleviated so much stress from our lives. We would have felt secure, knowing that our bills would continue to get paid while adjusting to being new parents! 

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