There is a crisis happening to American families every day when it comes to a lack of paid maternity and paternity leave. One mom just opened up about her personal experience, and she really nailed the struggle so many of us have faced and simply endured.
In an emotional post, Liuba Grechen Shirley, a community organizer who once ran for Congress, wrote, "This was two weeks postpartum, a few hours before I spiked a 105 fever & nearly fell unconscious home alone with two babies." Her words accompanied a black-and-white picture of her in bed with her two children, looking utterly exhausted.
The post continued, "I was alone bc Chris was out of #paidleave & had gone back to work. Luckily I called a friend to get me to the hospital before I passed out."
Her post continued, painting a terrifying picture of her postpartum experience. "I had retained placenta from Nicholas’ birth and got a massive infection. I was hospitalized for 1 week & then sent home with IV antibiotics for a week after that."
"So at 4 weeks postpartum, I was sick as a dog, with an IV in, nursing two babies. I was in no shape to put on some pants, hand over my infant to strangers, and head into the office.
"And yet that is what American women do every day."
Her story is horrific. But how many moms in America have had similar experiences? Liuba is absolutely correct in pointing out that what we're expected to navigate during the postpartum period is deeply troubling on so many levels. In the US, families have become so accustomed to figuring out a way to make the impossible work. Still, it is crushing us mentally, physically, and financially.
She continued, "Childbirth is no joke. Recovery is no joke. Paid leave is not a vacation.
"We are sending women bleeding, swollen, in stitches, in agony back to offices across this country. We are sending infants to exorbitantly expensive, overworked, understaffed childcare centers."
The mom and activist also pointed out that there is no real reason why this needs to be happening, aside from the fact that we just don't have enough moms in Congress. Moms are the ones who are primarily going to look out for issues like these — issues that impact families.
"We are the wealthiest nation in the world," Liuba wrote. "American billionaires added more than $1 trillion to their wealth during the pandemic, and we STILL can’t pass paid leave. We have the money. We don’t have the willpower. We don’t have enough moms in Congress."
Liuba isn't just talking the talk, however. She's fighting for change on behalf of herself and families all over the country. She started the organization Vote Mama to help Democratic moms with young children running for office.
The work Liuba is doing is quite amazing, but it's absolutely necessary. Working families are being crushed by unrealistic and harmful expectations. Likewise, we simply don't have policies that protect mothers and babies.
Paid leave should be the standard in the wealthiest country on earth, yet most US parents don't have any at all. That means that postpartum is something that we've largely been trained to simply survive.
