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my wife and i are having our baby in the first week of december. my question is, am i elgible for paid paternity? my company told me i wasnt, and that the law is in effect january 1, 2009.

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I am interested in meeting other mothers like yourself who wish to have paid maternity leave. If New Jersey can get a bill passed for paid maternity leave, I think PA could as well. We just need more people and have to set a game plan. Please, if you are in PA, and want to do something about this, let’s chat. I have an almost 9 week old and I had to come back to work at 3 weeks. My e-mail is gsxrbabe@comcast.net Let’s do this!

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I am currently at home with my first child who is 4 months old. I am taking unpaid FMLA but will have to go back on Nov 17th. I am a teacher and would love to have the entire year off but we don’t have short term disability so I would have to use sick days and vacation (which we don’t get). I would love to be able to take time off with future children so that I can continue to breastfeed. I am scared that when I go back my little one is going to get too used to the formula and not want to nurse. (I would pump, but it’s not something my body does easily.) Any word on PA??

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I could not agree more. The current US policy is absolutely appalling. With my child, I took the measly 3 months leave. It was HEARTBREAKING and DEVASTATING for me to leave my 3-month old in a daycare. It was a really nice one, but IT KILLED ME. I will forever live with this guilt. I want to have another child but dread going through the agony.

Yes, our options are meager. In plain words. IT SUCKS.

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First of all congratulations for all those who have struggled to pass the FMLA law in New Jersey.

However, why do people have to struggle so much to attain some basic rights in this country? How much energy, human and natural resources are waisted to convince politicians that common people are worth their rights? Why is it such a hard to understand concept that bebies need to be fed (and desirably BREASTFED) and cared for by their parents especially during the first year of life?

I have a very hard time accepting the status quo of the FMLA and the way it is applied in the United States. It is very heartbreaking how much stigma women and especially mothers who want or have to keep their job face. In a country where parental leave is kept to a minimum, it is no wonder that breastfeeding is as rare as it is. For marketing purposes, many work places use very ambiguous language to “encourage and support” breastfeeding, but unfortunately it is left to each department’s latitude, which creates more pressure for women. Even commmunist countries used to reduce the work day to 6 working hours for mothers (up to one year) so that they can continue breastfeeding. This reduction in hours did not come with a reduction in pay. Moreover, in those communist countries mothers had 6 months paid parental leave (with the option to extend it up to one year for medical reasons without using “earned sick time”), which indeed encouraged breastfeeding and healthy babies, thus healthy adults. If parental leave is long enough, mothers will be able to breastfeed without needing to justify it to their employer and it is less likely for the babies to be fed formula and use unhealthy baby bottles and expensive pumping devices.

I just wanted to share these thoughts because it is rather suffocating to see mothers who think that the only choice they have is either to go back to work when their babies are as young as 4 weeks (if they are lucky 12) or quit their job. There must be ways to meet the two in the strongest nation in the world.

Mothers, be proud of your roles and make your voices heard because YOU MATTER and make the world a better place.

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I was wondering if it’s ok to go on leave august 1 when my due date isn’t till sept. 10. Jackie

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How about NYC??? any news? updates?? I am a nervous wreck and will be due this Nov. 15th… Single mom… so sad…

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I’m due in January-although California claims to have some progressive laws in place, the only thing that protects California Moms is the disability act, which only pays up to 55%. What is being done (or what can I do) to get CA to follow NJ and give a woman the rights they deserve. I grew up in a different country, where every man AND woman gets 4 months paid as a minimun. I was truly shocked to learn the US is this behind the times. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

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In NC we have FMLA but I did not sign up for short-term disability before I was pregnant because I did not get my job until I was 12 weeks pregnant and thus I had to take unpaid leave. I could not afford 12 weeks, so I took 8. It was very hard to have all the costs of a newborn (diapers, clothes, formula) without my income. Is there any effort to bring Paid Family Leave to NC?

Also, we struggled with thousands of dollars of debt from fertility treatments to have my child. I know many states have mandated fertility coverage – but NC does not. There are many big companies that offer some coverage in NC, but they are few and far between. Do you know of any efforts underway to bring mandated fertility coverage to NC. If so, please let me know – if not, how would you suggest I go about starting some type of campaign for it?

Thank you,
Helen

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HI I’ve been working on getting a bill introduce in NC for about 1 1/2 years since I was denied FMLA by my employer due to a gaping loop hole. Rep. Verla Insko in NC is assisting and very interested, but progress has been slow.
Any help is appreciated.
Jeannine Sato

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