In the hours after one new mom's emergency C-section − nine weeks before her due date − and as her baby girl was whisked away to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to be hooked up to life-saving machines, she emailed her boss.
She was supposed to start a new job in five days. She'd negotiated for paid maternity leave in her contract, thinking she'd at least have a couple of months of work under her belt before she'd need to use it. But here she was, lying in a hospital bed with her abdomen cut open and her daughter fighting to stay alive.
She explained everything in the email: How her doctor accidentally broke her water during a routine cervical exam, and the chaos that ensued as she was rushed into an emergency surgery to delivery her baby. Her boss replied quickly. It was a brief message, offering some compassion and ending with the question: "Can you please confirm that you'll be at work on Monday?"
The mother was flustered. She spoke to USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity, citing a confidentiality agreement in the lawsuit she settled with her former employer.
"I'm like, did she not hear me?" she said, reflecting on the email exchange. Human resources got involved, and the day after her surgery, from her hospital bed, she hopped on a Zoom call with her company to come up with a plan. She said they offered to push her start date back two weeks so she could recover from the surgery. After that, she'd need to start working in the mornings. Her employer said she could visit her baby in the NICU in the afternoons, and take maternity leave once her daughter was discharged from the hospital.
