#The Motherhood Penalty

Healthcare Edition

Anonymous

Job – Hospital Laboratory

My third pregnancy was anything but easy. I experienced morning sickness throughout the entire pregnancy but still showed up to work every day because I needed to save my PTO. I started losing weight instead of gaining because I was so sick.

At 17 weeks, I thought I was losing my daughter due to bleeding and strong contractions. Thankfully, I didn’t lose her, but it was incredibly scary. When I returned to work, from 17 weeks onward, I had severe pelvic pain and could barely walk without being in tears. My doctor wrote notes recommending more breaks, but my supervisor essentially made it impossible for me to take them. I felt completely uncared for, as if they truly didn’t care if I lost my baby.

At 32 weeks, I really should not have been working; both my doctor and colleagues advised me to take time off. However, because maternity leaves are so short, stopping work then would have significantly shortened my time off after birth. Somehow, I was able to push through and worked right up until I had my daughter, but it was a living hell.

After I had my daughter, I repeatedly pressed my doctor about my persistent pelvic pain, eventually getting a referral to therapy. There, they discovered I had fractured my pelvis during my second child’s traumatic birth. This injury had been overlooked postpartum because our primary focus was ensuring my baby was okay. It was so validating to finally understand the reason for my immense pain. However, it was also distressing to realize that if it had been addressed after my second child’s birth, or even when I could barely walk during this pregnancy, I might have avoided so much pain and had a less difficult delivery.

That being said, if my workplace had given me the extra breaks and cooperated with me, or if we had a better leave system for pregnancy and postpartum, a tremendous amount of emotional and physical pain could have been avoided.

We need to share our experiences and lack of support in the workplace

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