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Woman Shares Her Tearful Experience Returning To Work 12 Days After Giving Birth
This is really heartrending.
Even in the best of times, balancing a job and parenting is hard. Then imagine what it’s like for new moms who just gave birth to a premature baby and had to return to work because of how parental leave works. Rebecca Shumard is presently in the news, having filmed herself crying because of the reality of her tough situation.
Rebecca Shumard gave birth to her daughter, Eden, at just 27 weeks, which means she’s 13 weeks premature.
With the username @edensmomma10_12 on TikTok, Rebecca revealed how she had to return to work just twelve days after giving birth to her baby, Eden, at just 27weeks. This is so that the 26-Year-Old could spend what petite maternity leave she has when her daughter is eventually discharged from the NICU.
Due to this, the newborn was forced to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 72 days.
@edensmomma10_12 #nicu #postpartum #ppd #preemie #americanhealthcare #maternity original sound – Rabs
But Rebecca couldn’t be by her side because she had to return to her job less than two weeks after giving birth.
In her video, Rebecca tearfully stated: “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?”
In her video, She broke down in tears as she talked of the small amount of maternity leave new moms are offered.
“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” The United States remains the only country on Earth without a national paid parental level program. And according to BBC Worklife, roughly 21% of US workers have access to paid family leave via their employers.
Rebecca had tried to pump breast milk while at work, but her supply was diminishing.
However, some parents have access to just 12 weeks of unpaid leave only if they happen to work at a company with over 50 employees. On the other hand, it’s claimed that premature babies are at a higher risk for premature lungs, risk of complications regulating temperature, brain bleeds, increased risk of infections, which can result in death.
Thankfully, Rebecca and her newborn got the happy ending they deserved.
In a follow-up video, Rebecca shared that the financial support she got from social media users meant that she could take time off work until April to spend time with her daughter. And due to people’s kind gestures, she doesn’t have to worry about not paying the bills. “TikTok, because of you, I will not be forced to choose between being with my daughter in NICU or paying bills. I am eternally grateful.”
She eventually took time off work until April to spend time with her daughter.
@edensmomma10_12 #nicu #preemie #tiktok #thankyou #prematurebaby #maternityleave #familyleave #Eden Married Life (From “Up”) – Sergy el Som
“So many of you have shown support, reached out, donated, which is crazy to me. It’s absolutely not the responsibility of generous people like you to take something like this on. Our country needs to realize this is a problem, that 6-8 weeks of maternity leave, depending on whether you had a vaginal birth or cesarean section, is not enough.”
@edensmomma10_12 Thank you all so very much #nicu #postpartum #ppd #preemie #premature #prematurebaby #pumping #medela #americanhealthcare #FMLA #maternityleave #familyleave #Eden original sound – Rabs
“It’s the responsibility of our government, and they have failed us. Not to mention seeing the comments of other people from around the world that get so much time with their kids – that’s amazing, and I don’t know why we don’t have that.” The parental leave in the US heavily contrasts with the situation in other Western nations.
EDEN IS DOING MUCH BETTER AND FINALLY HOME!!! After 72 days in the NICU!
Some People Shared Information About What Parental Leave Looks Like In Developed Countries.
And Here’s How TikTokers Had Reacted To The Mom’s Situation.
