Brooks’ Story
My wife and I are expecting our first child in February. We are both registered nurses. I have watched my wife work the night shift in emergency medicine through this entire pregnancy.
Jenny’s Story
When I was pregnant with my daughter, 5 years ago, I did not have access to paid medical leave. I had just started a new job at a public library about a month before I found out I was pregnant.
Brittany’s Story
When I was pregnant with my third child, I was working full-time as a nurse, doing everything I could to prepare for the moment I’d meet my baby.
Mel’s Story
Unpaid leave was without a doubt the most stressful part of being a new parent—and neither of my kids slept through the night in the first 1.5 years. I knew every day I wasn’t getting paid was going to make it harder for longer.
Beth’s Story
When my first was born (in Kansas, 14 years ago) I did not have any paid leave at all and had to go back to work after 5 weeks because I ran out of money. It was brutal.
Julie’s Story
I have five children. On Monday, I gave birth to my third child in my first year of teaching. On Wednesday, I supervised juniors setting up Prom and chaperoned Prom on Saturday.
Share Your Story
Do you have a story about how having access to paid family and medical leave helped you? Or how you were unable to take paid leave when you needed? Tell us your story so that we may share to others why paid leave is important.