Advocacy groups push for paid family leave for parents of stillborns

This month, advocacy groups Moms Rising and Paid Leave for All delivered a petition with more than 55,000 signatures to every member of Congress demanding a federal law protecting paid family leave. This petition is part of a broader movement advocating for paid leave happening at the state level as well.

Scripps News has been following the state-level effort happening in New York led by mothers fighting for change. In many states, including New York, mothers who give birth to a stillborn baby often have their preapproved paid family leave revoked, and currently that's legal. Over the last two years, legislation was introduced to fix that legal loophole, but this summer, the legislative fight stalled right before the finish line.

RELATED STORY | Preventing stillbirth in the US: Why some advocates say there's more to be done

“This compromise bill would not only be monumental for stillbirth parents, but it would be for so many others to include cancer patients and people who suffer from serious illnesses like MS,” said Cassidy Perrone, a mother who delivered her daughter, Olivia, stillborn.

Perrone had her paid family leave revoked. According to New York state law, she did not need leave because her baby had died. She has spent the last two years fighting to legally protect paid family leave for moms of stillborn babies, hoping it will lead to federal paid leave for all parents. It's a movement that's only grown as more people learn about their own state's legal loopholes.

“It is hard for us to relive this every single time that we talk to a Senator or a Congressman, or the Governor's office, we relive that trauma,” Perrone said. “But, that is the only way that change is going to occur.”

RELATED STORY | Alexa and Carlos PenaVega reveal stillbirth of their daughter

Perrone is working alongside advocates, like Samantha Banerjee, the executive director of PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy, to get this year's bill passed. On the last day of the 2024 legislative session, after passing the state Senate, Perrone said New York's speaker of the Assembly suddenly took the bill off the agenda.

“To say that it was devastating is an understatement,” said Perrone. “It truly brought me back to the day that my paid family leave was revoked from me. I felt like it completely re-traumatized me because I had been promised something yet again by New York, and it was the right thing to do. And they took it away yet again.”

Now, Perrone, Banerjee and others are fighting to get the bill back in front of state legislators before the end of the year.

If passed, Banerjee said she hopes the law could be an example for a national model. "What is happening in New York is setting the stage for what's going to be going on nationally,” said Banerjee.

RELATED STORY | What is 'mom guilt,' and how should you deal with it?

The United States is one of seven countries globally that does not have any guaranteed form of paid maternity leave on a federal level. The U.S. Department of Labor found only 27% of private sector U.S. workers had access to paid family leave through their employer. And among the lowest wage workers, who are predominately women and workers of color, 95% have no access to paid family leave.

"Black moms are, you know, three to four times more likely to lose their lives as a result of pregnancy or childbirth. Sixty percent of those deaths are happening in the postpartum period, and that two-thirds of those are in those critical first six weeks after giving birth. So, this is literally putting mothers’ lives at stake," said Banerjee.

As of today, 13 states have passed paid family and medical leave laws. Critics of these policies say they can cost too much and the burden on businesses is too great, but Perrone said it’s more than policy. “We need to show as a country that women are valued,” said Perrone.

"Whether you are lucky enough to come out of your pregnancy with your baby in your arms or not, every person who gives birth deserves that time to heal their bodies. And anything less than that is simply cruel and unusual,” said Banerjee.

For more information on PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy and its advocacy work, click HERE.