We just posted Chapter "M", about maternity/paternity leave, online. To read Chapter "M", click here.

And, we opened a new forum so you can discuss these issues with others. Check out the forum here.

Join us online. Read the chapter. Tell your maternity story. Hear others' stories. Pass it on!

Frankly, America is behind the rest of the world when it comes to helping new parents. We are one of only 4 out of 168 countries studied that doesn’t offer some type of paid leave for new moms. (We join Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland as countries without this type of leave). It’s time to step up to catch up.

The current absence of paid family leave has rippling consequences, particularly because childcare costs between $4,000 and $10,000 per year in our country, and we have a stagnant minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, which adds up to only $10,712 per year. The cost of childcare often exceeds pay. The end result is that a quarter of families with children under six live in poverty, and many others are struggling.

Paid family leave will help families avoid these economic crisis, and has also been shown to significantly reduce infant mortality. It’s just plain common sense policy.