A new mother whose premature baby was left in the NICU after being born with a hole in her artery sobbed as she revealed she had to return to work just 12 days after giving birth – leaving her unable to see her sick child.
Rebecca Shumard, 26, from Pennsylvania, gave birth to her daughter, Eden, at 27 weeks – 13 weeks early.
Because of the premature birth, the newborn was born with a heart defect and was forced to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 72 days.
But Rebecca was not able to be by her child’s side during that time because she had to return to her job as a medical assistant/exercise physiologist less than two weeks after giving birth.
She recently broke down in tears in a heartbreaking TikTok video, as she opened up about the struggles she has faced due to the small amount of maternity leave that new moms are offered in America.
A new mother whose baby was in the NICU after being born with a hole in her artery revealed she had to return to work just 12 days after giving birth – leaving her unable to see her sick child
Rebecca Shumard, 26, gave birth to her daughter, Eden, at 27 weeks – 13 weeks early. Due to the premature birth, the newborn had to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 72 days
But Rebecca was not able to be by her child’s side during that time because she had to return to her job as a medical assistant less than two weeks after giving birth
She broke down in tears in a TikTok video, as she opened up about the struggles she has faced due to the small amount of maternity leave that new moms are offered in America
‘POV, you have to return to work 12 days after having a premature baby at 27 weeks, so that when she is eventually discharged from the NICU you can spend what little maternity leave you have with her,’ she wrote in the emotional clip, which showed her sitting at her desk as tears streamed down her face.
According to Rebecca, she was trying to pump breast milk every few hours while at work – but her supply was diminishing since her job was so understaffed and she didn’t have time.
She continued: ‘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? 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.’
In another video, Rebecca revealed that she was given 12 weeks of unpaid leave in total through the Family Medical Leave Act – which requires employers to provide employees with job-protected, unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reason – but that is more than most new moms get.
In another video, Rebecca revealed that she was given 12 weeks of unpaid leave in total through the Family Medical Leave Act – which is more than most new moms get
She explained that she used two of those weeks when Eden – who was born at two pounds one ounce – was first born, but wanted to save the rest for when she was out of the hospital
Federal law in the U.S. guarantees that parents get just six weeks of unpaid time off after the birth of their baby, and Eden said the ‘government has failed’ new moms
She explained that she used two of those weeks when Eden – who was born at two pounds one ounce – was first born, but wanted to save the rest for when she was out of the hospital.
Federal law in the U.S. guarantees that new parents get just six weeks of unpaid time off for a vaginal birth and eight weeks for a cesarean birth, and some workers don’t even qualify for it.
According to Washington Post, the United States is the ‘only wealthy country in the world without any guaranteed paid parental leave at the national level.’
Rebecca continued: ‘I think our country needs to realize that this is a problem – that six to eight weeks of maternity leave, depending on whether you had a vaginal birth or cesarean section, is not enough.
‘Our government has failed us. They have failed us as a system. Seeing comments from people all around the world who get so much time with their new kids, that’s amazing, and I don’t know why we don’t have that.’
While chatting with In The Know, Rebecca explained that six weeks is not nearly enough time to get used to being a new parent.
‘My expectations of maternity leave were, this is the time to spend with your baby, and it’s going to be obviously a learning curve,’ she told them.
‘You spend those short six weeks with them, if that’s what it is that you get, and during that time you are creating a schedule that works for the baby that changes daily, hourly. So those six weeks turn into minutes real quick.
‘Before I had delivered her, I was thinking, how is six weeks or eight weeks going to be enough?
According to Rebecca, she was trying to pump breast milk every few hours while at work – but her supply was diminishing since her job was so understaffed and she didn’t have time
Since posting the initial TikTok video in December, which has been viewed nearly three million times, Rebecca has gotten an outpouring amount of support from people online
‘However, you have to work it out; it’s kind of like we all have to do some kind of Sudoku to figure it out.
‘It’s just incredible that we don’t offer that to the family unit that America’s supposed to hold so close to their heart: Taking care of your family and being there for your loved ones.
‘This is what we fight for, this family unit, but we’re not actually being fought for here.’
Rebecca revealed that she began to feel contractions in October 2021 – three months before Eden was due.
At the emergency room, they tried to slow the birth process, but it wasn’t working.
She recalled: ‘At that point, they looked at me and said, “We don’t think that we’re going to be able to slow this down any further, and it looks like you’re probably going to have a baby here within the next couple of hours.”
‘I can still see the doctor’s face telling me that, because she could see just a fear in my eyes. I was so unsure what was going to happen.’
Eden was born with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) – which is a heart defect caused by an extra blood vessel found in babies before birth.
It can cause poor eating, failure to thrive, or breathlessness, but can be treated with medications such as anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), and surgery.
‘They intubated her and they transported her to another hospital that could facilitate premature babies of her gestation,’ Rebecca continued. ‘But I didn’t hold her for 72 hours after her birth.’
Since posting the initial TikTok video in December, which has been viewed nearly three million times, Rebecca has gotten an outpouring amount of support from people online.
And besides the touching messages, she has also received tons of donations through Venmo and PayPal – and she has now raised enough money to take off work until April
Eden is doing much better now, and was discharged from the hospital on December 23, after spending 72 days in the NICU
And besides the touching messages, she has also received tons of donations through Venmo and PayPal – and she has now raised enough money to take off work until April.
‘Without that, I would be going back to work in like two weeks,’ she said. ‘And she’s still a newborn, cognitively and developmentally.
‘She’ll be alive and out of the womb for three months next Wednesday. But really, she is only 39 weeks and two days gestation.
‘I don’t know how to really just get across how thankful I am. I have to really share that with everyone on TikTok.
‘It’s a platform that I’ve seen do this for people. And, like I said in the other video, it shouldn’t.
‘It shouldn’t have to. That shouldn’t be the job of these people, but they have changed my life.’
Eden is doing much better now, and was discharged from the hospital on December 23, after spending 72 days in the NICU.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk