The lack of paid family leave in America is robbing new mothers of the chance to breastfeed their newborns. Statistics show that 1 in 4 women who lack paid family leave go back to work just ten days following the birth of their child (Bryant, 2019). Many women cannot afford to take time off work to establish a healthy regime nursing their infant. According to the New York Times, “In the United States, only 12 percent of female workers and 5 percent of female low-wage workers have access to paid leave (Colen, 2014). If new mothers could afford to take the time off of work to nurture breastfeeding the United States would see an increase in the overall health of mothers and babies across the nation. The proactive health benefits provided to mom and baby by way of breastfeeding have been enough for all countries except the U.S. and Papua New Guinea to adopt paid family leave laws. It’s time for a change.
I myself am not only a breastfeeding mother, but also an employee of Washington state’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave program. The response to the new state paid leave program has been immense to say the least. And by far the majority of the applicants are new mothers seeking to bond with their baby before having to return to the stressors of work. I am excited to see how statistics will change regarding breastfed infants in the state of Washington due to the availability of this program, especially since studies have already shown that paid leave promotes breastfeeding. NCBI report in 2016 that “employed women who received 12 or more weeks of paid maternity leave were more likely to initiate breastfeeding and be breastfeeding their child at 6 months than those without paid leave” (Mirkovic, Perrine & Scanlon, 2016). As a resident of Washington, I have the luxury of accessing Paid Family Leave, but the goal of Nurture Nursing is to show America that being able to afford paid time off to promote the health of yourself and your newborn by way of breastfeeding should not be a luxury, it should be a given.
Work cited
Bryant, M. (2019, October 28). The US doesn’t offer paid family leave – but will that change in 2020? Retrieved February 8, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/28/us-paid-family-leave-2020-election
Colen, C. (2014, May 22). The Politics of Breastfeeding. Retrieved February 8, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/05/22/the-politics-of-breastfeeding/most-women-cant-afford-to-breastfeed
Mirkovic, K. R., Perrine, C. G., & Scanlon, K. S. (2016, September). Paid Maternity Leave and Breastfeeding Outcomes. Retrieved February 25, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26991788
Nurture nursing 