A must read article for new moms:

melszum · May 2012

https://www.momsinmaine.com/2012/05/wake-up-moms-youre-fighting-the-wrong-fight/

Please comment. I would love to hear what you think. I was LIVID about US policies when I read this.

ChrMoo · May 2012

There must be a change to the US policies!!! I signed the petition !!! I will never forget when my company was bought by a European fund and I was 7months prego the new owner asked me what our current "maternity leave" was and I said there is none. We have only 37 employees, I was told to save ALL of my time and take it all at once so at least I can get some pay while I'm out. His response to hat was you American's are so damn cheap! So true!!! I cried everyday whe. I went back to work, I was not ready and neither was my DD, but if I wanted to keep my job I had to go back.

kerischrader · May 2012

Wow! I can't even imagine, I am a SAHM but wouldn't even be near ready to return to go back to work if I had to and DS is 4 mo! There is A LOT that needs to change in the US... a lot.

MrsLindinger0905 · May 2012

Thank you so much for posting this! I agree with every single sentence in this article. I discovered right before I went back to work (6 weeks PP, no sex yet, still bleeding, whole nine yards like the woman said) that America is one of the very few countries with no maternity leave policy. I agree, America treats moms like S***!!!!!!

MrsLindinger0905 · May 2012

I actually shed a few tears of anger, especially after reading "I guess the good thing about being forced to return to work after just a few weeks is that your breast milk supply tanks so fast, you probably won?t even have to fight for your right to pump." My manager has been timing my pumping sessions to the minute, and will make me clock out and take personal time if I take longer than 15 minutes. I don't have that much personal time to take! My DD takes 18 oz while I'm at work, I used to pump about 12-15 oz at work (which I was ok with) but now because I'm so stressed about it I can only pump 5-6 oz if I'm lucky!! I don't even want to mention how I've skipped lunch several tiems because I was busy with customers in the morning and had to skip that pump session. A girl at another branch of my credit union actually quit recently because she got so fed up with how her manager/staff treated her when she needed to pump!

lijuan09 · May 2012

I signed the petition. The work-is-more-important-than-life culture in the U.S. is way out of control.

EveryNameIWantIsTaken · May 2012

MrsLindinger0905:
I actually shed a few tears of anger, especially after reading "I guess the good thing about being forced to return to work after just a few weeks is that your breast milk supply tanks so fast, you probably won?t even have to fight for your right to pump." My manager has been timing my pumping sessions to the minute, and will make me clock out and take personal time if I take longer than 15 minutes. I don't have that much personal time to take! My DD takes 18 oz while I'm at work, I used to pump about 12-15 oz at work (which I was ok with) but now because I'm so stressed about it I can only pump 5-6 oz if I'm lucky!! I don't even want to mention how I've skipped lunch several tiems because I was busy with customers in the morning and had to skip that pump session. A girl at another branch of my credit union actually quit recently because she got so fed up with how her manager/staff treated her when she needed to pump!

Wow, that is really sad. I'm sure this is happening all over the country too. I thing a large part of the pumping issue comes from people being so closed minded in the first place about breast feeding.

I can say from experience when I was working when ds was little, when he got sick is was always a fight of who was going to be the one calling in to work that day. It sucked and whoever it was was made to feel guilty.

adivad · May 2012

Yes, love the article, my sentiments exactly. But, it took me becoming a mom to see and understand what the real problem is( w/maternity leave)....as a country we need to figure out how to allow moms more time with their babies....other countries have done it.... I think more time with our babies are worth fighting for, after all, aren't children our future?

adivad · May 2012

Are should be is....

Mayfaerie88 · May 2012

I was just discussing maternity leave with one of my co-workers who lives in the Netherlands (but is a British citizen) and is working in our office for a couple of weeks. She had asked me how long the maternity leave is here in the US. She was telling me how it was in the UK & Germany. Plus we have a friends in Norway & know how well mothers there.

I am one of the people who works PT AND gave birth a month & half shy of being at my employer a year. Since I get no benefits and didn't 'qualify' for FMLA, they offered me a 10 wk leave of absence. It was generous considering. I took almost all of it, but being out for 9.5 w/o pay (a week & a half of it before birth) was tight to say the least. We fortunately socked some away to be able to cover mortgage & bills in that time, but what if we couldn't? Another co-worker only got 6 wks. She started about 3-4 mths after me and had her baby 4 wks after I did.

I hated going back to work and I just don't want to be here anymore. If I didn't need the money, I would be home, but we live in an expensive area. I am fortunate that we don't have to use daycare because of my husband's night schedule and me working afternoons. Soon be moving to be closer to my parents and I hope then to be able to stay home.

Things have got to change and NOW!!!

littlewinnie15 · May 2012

Thanks for posting this. I'm actually the author of this article, and I firmly believe we all need to join together to push for a change.

melszum · May 2012

I am actually looking into work from home jobs now. I'm a teacher so I have excellent benefits and lots of time off but I want to be home more. Let me know if you hear of any work from home opportunities!!

A2009 · May 2012

I signed the petition. With baby number one, I was denied a raise due to maternity leave (I was told this by my boss). With baby number two, I was laid off (not the only employee, impossible to prove it was due to pregnancy). Things in this country have to change.

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