COO BABY — Maternity Leave

I’m here to tell you - maternity leave, in any form, is not a luxury. That sentiment is not only ignorant, but also highly damaging to our culture here in the US. We need to fight for better and more postpartum support for all working mothers (and parents) in those first several months of a baby’s life. 

The sad thing is, if you receive even 12 weeks of paid maternity leave in America, you are considered lucky. FMLA requires 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually for mothers of newborn or newly adopted children if they work for a company with 50 or more employees. For so many, 12 weeks of unpaid work is not an option. According to PL+US, one in four new moms go back to work 10 days after childbirth. 

1. BRING HER FOOD.

Now I am sure you have heard of this one.  Now that her life has changed and she is no longer sleeping, it can sometimes be hard to make time to eat.  Don’t call her and ask what you can bring her, be thinking of this point before she even delivers the baby and try and take note of things she likes.  This can be as simple as stocking her pantry with easy one-handed snacks like granola bars, or bringing some frozen meals for her to easily warm up as she is pumping, breastfeeding, bathing the baby, changing the baby, walking in circles to soothe the little one.. you get it, she’s busy.  Don’t overthink it, in the end she’s just going to remember you were thoughtful, not what food you actually brought.