Mom Shares Painful Experience Of Having To Return To Work 12 Days After Giving Birth To Premature Baby
Giving birth to your baby prematurely is already immensely difficult—but giving birth to your baby prematurely and then having to go right back to work while the baby is in the NICU makes it a million times harder.
A video of a woman crying because she had to go back to work and leave her daughter in the neonatal unit intensive care unit (NICU) has gone viral on TikTok.
Unfortunately, that’s what 26-year-old new mom Rebecca Shumard had to do. When she unexpectedly gave birth to her daughter, Eden, at just 27 weeks gestation, she was forced to return to work just 12 days—less than two weeks—after birth.
Because Eden was born so early, it was important for Rebecca to be able to spend the little bit of maternity leave she had with her daughter once she was discharged from the NICU. So until then, she had to work to take care of the medical bills.
According to Rebecca, she was trying to pump breast milk every few hours while at work – but her supply was diminishing since her job was so understaffed and she didn’t have time.
She continued: ‘You try to pump at work every three hours, but they’re understaffed. Your milk supply is diminishing at eight weeks postpartum.
‘Will you even have milk available when she gets home? What do other NICU parents do? How can anyone afford to stay home during a NICU stay?
‘How can anyone handle the guilt when you have to work and can’t be with your baby? This. Is. America.’
Awful, right? We feel awful for this woman! And so does most of the TikTok world, who made comments in support of her.
The video also brought viewers to the attention of how other countries handle maternity leave, which can last anywhere from 1.5 to as much as 3 whole years, depending on where you live.
Don’t worry—the story does have a happy ending. Thanks to the support of social media, Rebecca received tons of help from generous strangers. In her follow-up video, she thanked everyone who helped her, adding once again that the short maternity leave in this country needs to be fixed. Check it out below!
In another video, Rebecca revealed that she was given 12 weeks of unpaid leave in total through the Family Medical Leave Act – which requires employers to provide employees with job-protected, unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reason – but that is more than most new moms get.
@edensmomma10_12 #nicu #postpartum #ppd #preemie #americanhealthcare #maternity ♬ original sound – Rabs
Source:tiphero.com, today.com, dailymail.co.uk
