"This is America": the rant of a young mother, forced to work while her baby is hospitalized

Just 12 days after giving birth to a premature baby and being admitted to intensive care, this young mother is forced to return to work. A situation that is unbearable for him.

"This is America," laments Rebecca Shumard in a video posted on TikTok. We discover this 26-year-old American girl in tears, trying to stay focused on her computer. A medical assistant, she explains that she is currently at work but can only think of one thing: her little girl, born 12 days earlier and hospitalized for a heart defect. But due to non-existent maternity leave in her country, she cannot stay at his bedside. “This is America. You need to go back to work 12 days after having a premature baby at 27 weeks so that when she finally comes out of intensive care you can spend what little maternity leave you have with her,” she wrote. And to add about her difficulties in expressing her milk at work: “How can you manage the guilt when you have to work and you can't be with your baby? »

The United States is one of the only countries in the world that does not offer maternity leave. Young mothers can only benefit from six weeks of leave for a vaginal delivery, and eight weeks for a caesarean... but unpaid! The young mother finally obtained the maximum of 12 weeks of leave offered with conditions (but still unpaid) after requesting additional weeks under the "Federal Family and Medical Leave Act". In addition, thanks to her video which moved many Internet users, she also obtained donations which allow her to enjoy her little girl more serenely.

Since the publication of the video, the little girl has been released from the hospital and Rebecca is nursing. It would also be good for this video to make people react so that young American parents and their babies can finally take advantage of a privileged time to learn to tame themselves, to rest, and to start this new life in a peaceful way.

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