Capitol Hill with Bobbie
Photos by Lelanie Foster
Thirteen years after the FAMILY Act was first introduced, the United States still has not passed federal paid family and medical leave. In that time, 1 in 4 women have returned to work within two weeks of giving birth, and families lose more than $34 billion annually without paid leave.
Unfortunately, we’re inundated with so many faceless statistics that it becomes easy to ignore the severity of what this actually means. But what they represent is very real: mothers are not being supported in our country right now. Not emotionally, and certainly not physically.
The core of Spread The Jelly has always been to tell stories that center the mother. And while everyone’s story is incredibly unique, the through line is sadly consistent: we are not systemically supported. It shows up in hidden insurance fees and exorbitant daycare costs. It shows up in surprise medical bills. We recently spoke to someone hit with a massive bill after miscarrying quadruplets. For too long, personal experiences like these have not been given the platform they deserve, and when they aren’t platformed, advocacy becomes significantly more difficult.
When we’re told to grin and bear the magnitude of the motherhood experience—the pregnancies, the hormone drops, the physical recovery, the grief, and everything in between—our chances at real structural change lessen too.
So alongside Bobbie For Change, we cohosted a bipartisan lobby day on Capitol Hill. Our goal was to bring mothers’ lived experiences into the rooms where decisions are made. Bobbie created a hotline where women from across the country could share their own experiences, and together we delivered 1,000 of those stories directly to lawmakers.
One of the hotline calls came from Sarah in Kentucky.
“Hi. I'm calling in regards to the need for mothers to have a longer and or more paid leave for the bonding time that's crucial with their babies. In my case, I was diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant, and I'm currently needing to return back to work. And I think that I should be able to be eligible to have a longer leave to spend time not only with my baby during this time, but also to continue with my treatment.”
We all met outside the Capitol before heading into bipartisan meetings across the House and Senate. We invited incredible parents from our STJ community (and several Getting Sticky alum!) like Jaycina Almond, Anna Malaika Tubbs, Sophia Li, Meena Harris, Dr. Max Goldstein, Hannah Bronfman, Iskra Lawrence, Lelanie Foster, and Whitney Port. We were also joined by Bobbie co-founder Sarah Hardy, Bobbie for Change Director of Impact + Policy Michele Lampach, and nonprofit partners like BirthFund, Paid Leave for All, and 4Kira4Moms.
The advocates we gathered were clear that paid leave isn’t just the right thing to do morally, but is also a smart policy. As Dawn Huckelbridge of Paid Leave for All put it, “Paid leave is one of the most impactful policies in the country—boosting everything from public health, to economic growth, to entrepreneurship, to racial and gender equity. But it would also give us something invaluable — the ability to see our baby's first smile, to hold a parent's hand as they pass, to heal, to be there for the people we love. It’s something we all can have and deserve, and we have to demand of every elected official.”
"These oversights are a policy failure and our government is failing American families. American families deserve better. Maternal health is a human right."
And of course, as it pertains to paid leave, the reality is that our bodies NEEDS to heal after giving birth. “It is sobering that the FAMILY Act has been debated for over 13 years despite its simplicity,” said Iskra Lawrence. “Paid leave is both a moral and practical imperative. When people are given time to heal and bond, they return to the workforce more engaged. And yet, teachers I know are back in the classroom weeks after giving birth, caring for other people’s children. We also do not talk nearly enough about postpartum healing. A C-section involves cutting through seven layers of the body and some women are expected to return to work within two weeks, still bleeding. If the internal wounds of postpartum recovery were visible on the outside, no one would expect that person to be upright, let alone back at work.”
"Bobbie is the only infant formula brand in the US to lobby for paid leave, in an industry that has historically lobbied against it. That is because of the power of Bobbie for Change, our social impact and policy arm, which is fully dedicated to advancing policies that evolve society for modern parenthood."
From Michele Lampach, Mom and Director of Impact and Policy at Bobbie for Change read more about Michele Lampach, Mom and Director of Impact and Policy at Bobbie for Change
We also emphasized the maternal mortality crisis. Around 700 women die every year in the U.S. from pregnancy-related causes and 84% of those deaths are preventable. That is the most frustrating aspect of all: that there are solution levers we can pull. “The maternal healthcare system is severely broken and easily solvable by these policies from Momnibus to The FAMILY Act,” said Sophia Li. “These oversights are a policy failure and our government is failing American families. American families deserve better. Maternal health is a human right.”
The bottom line is that thirteen years is far too long a time to wait for something as basic as paid leave. It is undignified to NOT have it. Families have been forcing themselves to heal too fast, to go back to work too soon, to make impossible choices that impact their mental and physical health. What’s missing is urgency, and the connection that there are living, breathing human beings behind the statistics that feel faceless. If there’s one thing we left Capitol Hill with, it’s the understanding that policy can change if we demand it.
