When you’re in labor , the last thing you want to be worrying about is whether someone was able to cover your shift at work.
But due to poor laws surrounding maternity leave in the United States — one of the wealthiest countries without guaranteed paid paternal leave — that’s an unfortunate reality for many mothers .
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This stress was captured by one mom-to-be in a viral video.
The woman in the viral video is Marissa Peirce.
She’s a first-time mother who works at a drive-thru coffee shop.
At the time of the video, she was supposed to be at work for her 10 a.m. shift, but she went into labor a week and a half early with her son, Charles.
In the video, more than five million people watched as she experienced anxiety over texting her boss that she couldn’t make it to work.
“me literally in labor overthinking the text im sending to my manager to call out.”
She even read the text out loud to her partner to make sure it sounded OK.
“I am in labor. I just got admitted to the hospital — smiley face. Would it be OK if my mom or brother picked up my paycheck tomorrow — question mark.”
She asked her boyfriend if it sounded okay, and he said it was “perfect.”
Given how ridiculous it seemed to be worrying about work while in labor, many viewers cracked jokes about the situation.
“Please come in with a doctors note next day, the baby will not count as one seeing as we need it on file,” one wrote.
“I see why the baby has to be there, but why do you?” another wrote.
“I understand but next time please do not let us know last minute,” a third added.
Although the situation can seem funny from how ludicrous it is, it’s also painful to see what expecting women go through in the workforce.
“Omggg being a woman in workforce is something else,” this viewer commented.
“That’s literally so sad that this is America,” another added. Some women in the comments even shared stories of the awful things their work put them through.
Some of these stories are truly unforgivable.
“My job called me while I was in the hospital after delivering my stillborn son (they knew this) to ask when I was coming back,” this woman shared.
“My boss texted me while I was in the hospital asking if I was going to make it to work at all that week,” another woman shared her harrowing tale.
In an interview with Buzzfeed, Marissa admitted that she wasn’t worried about her boss being upset.
“I was a young parent, giving birth in a hospital in the middle of the pandemic — a week and a half early. Having to call out of work was the cherry on top for my anxiety.”
“I empathize with all of the commenters talking about their lack of parental leave,” she continued.
“I am extremely disappointed in the United States’ lack of maternity and paternity leave. Most people that I know worked up until they went into labor, like I did.”
She went on to say that she knows people who have gone back to work just weeks after having children.
“I was unfortunately offered no maternity leave and my partner was offered no paternity leave. He went to work less than 24 hours after we came home from the hospital,” Marissa said.
Regardless, she feels lucky that her boss and her co-workers were able to cover her shift while she was in labor with no issues.
Now if we could just get that same treatment for other mothers — AND paid maternity leave — then we’d all be so lucky.
