15.
“I was three weeks postpartum from birth and a pregnancy that I almost died from due to complications. I submitted a request to extend my leave because I could not sit up in bed without extreme pain and had a kidney infection that would not subside with basic medications, so I was almost in kidney failure and sepsis. My company and insurance only covered six weeks of unpaid leave unless an extension to 12 weeks was ‘medically necessary,’ which an employee of the insurance company decided.”
“My Dr provided detailed notes which my state (Massachusetts) accepted immediately as medically necessary to continue to be on leave, but my company would not approve the leave without the insurance company accepting it.
So, I had to return to work, or I would have lost my job. I am the breadwinner, and my job is what provides my whole family healthcare. Four weeks into work, I needed to submit a short-term disability claim due to having a plan to commit suicide due to the pain, diagnosis of insomnia (in addition to normal ‘no sleep’ of the newborn phase), working 40 hours a week, and finally being diagnosed with postpartum psychosis and bipolar disorder (which I did not have before pregnancy and birth).
Now, I have a lifelong mental disorder due to not being able to rest and recover appropriately from a complication-ridden pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period.”
—Jessica, Massachusetts
