The United States remains one of only three developed nations without statutory paid maternity leave, forcing many new mothers back to work just days after giving birth. Jessica Rebeschini, 26, from Bondurant, Iowa, was advised to take at least six weeks off after an emergency caesarean section, but with no paid leave and bills mounting, she was waitressing 45-hour weeks within a fortnight.
Earning $4.35 an hour, she carried heavy trays and walked miles each day, pumping breastmilk in the restaurant toilet and living in fear of her scar reopening. “The biggest thing was that I was kind of scared. When you have major surgery like that and then you’re pushing your body so harshly,” she said. She and her husband Ron, 33, an optician, had just two dollars left in their bank account.
According to advocacy group Paid Leave US, one in four women in the US return to work within two weeks of childbirth, despite guidance from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommending at least six weeks off. Department of Labour figures show only 17% of workers have access to paid family leave, and disparities are even starker for families of colour, said Myra Jones-Taylor of the child development non-profit Zero to Three.
Rebeschini described the agony of separation from her newborn son Karter, now four, and said she never told her employer how recently she had given birth for fear of being seen as a liability. Her manager supported her pumping, but there was nowhere suitable, so she used the bathroom. The early return may have had lasting effects: Karter’s disabilities went unnoticed until he was over a year old, and she still feels abdominal pain she attributes to working too soon.
After the birth of her third child, Brody, now one, she took two months off but with no maternity pay the family fell behind on bills and declared bankruptcy. Dr Rebecca Jackson, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of California, San Francisco, said breastfeeding poses major challenges for early returners. “If you’re driving a bus, how do you stop that bus to pump milk?” She advises eight weeks off after a caesarean to avoid complications.
