Pregnant, and Pushed Out of a Job

This is late. I just found it and other articles, I found this relevant, republicans spout they are pro-life, no abortions, but when it comes to taking care of the vessels, so that the pregnancies are normal, safe, and end with viable babies, the courts deemed pregnancy itself is not considered a disability, employers are not obligated to accommodate most pregnant vessels in any way. That puts the vessels and babies in a very harmful way. Read the article, Republicans can't seem to get it straight.

Vessels = women., since men seem to think that they control our bodies for us, we are just vessels for pregnancies. Am I glad I am too old for that!

By DINA BAKST

Published: January 30, 2012

FEW people realize that getting pregnant can mean losing your job. Imagine a woman who, seven months into her pregnancy, is fired from her position as a cashier because she needed a few extra bathroom breaks. Or imagine another pregnant employee who was fired from her retail job after giving her supervisors a doctor’s note requesting she be allowed to refrain from heavy lifting and climbing ladders during the month and a half before her maternity leave: that’s what happened to Patricia Leahy. In 2008 a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled that her firing was fair because her employers were not obligated to accommodate her needs.

Stina Löfgren

We see this kind of case in our legal clinic all the time. It happens every day to pregnant women in the United States, and it happens thanks to a gap between discrimination laws and disability laws. 

Federal and state laws ban discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace. And amendments to the Americans With Disabilities Act require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled employees (including most employees with medical complications arising from pregnancies) who need them to do their jobs. But because pregnancy itself is not considered a disability, employers are not obligated to accommodate most pregnant workers in any way. 

As a result, thousands of pregnant women are pushed out of jobs that they are perfectly capable of performing — either put on unpaid leave or simply fired — when they request an accommodation to help maintain a healthy pregnancy. Many are single mothers or a family’s primary breadwinner. They are disproportionately low-income women, often in physically demanding jobs with little flexibility. 

Thankfully, State Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat from Manhattan, and Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, a Democrat from Sullivan County, have introduced legislation to fill this gap in New York. Their bills — S. 6273 and A. 9114 — would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant women whose health care providers say they need them, unless doing so would be an undue hardship for the employer. 

These accommodations could include providing a seat for employees who spend long periods standing, allowing more frequent restroom breaks, limiting heavy lifting or transferring an employee to a less strenuous or hazardous position. As of 2010, seven states, including California, had passed laws requiring private employers to provide at least some accommodations. And they have been used countless times to help pregnant women keep their jobs. 

This kind of law is a public health necessity. Without its protections, pregnant women are reluctant to ask for the accommodations they need for their own health and for the health of their unborn children. For many women, a choice between working under unhealthy conditions and not working is no choice at all. In addition, women who can work longer into their pregnancies often qualify for longer periods of leave following childbirth, which facilitates breastfeeding, bonding with and caring for a new child and a smoother and healthier recovery from childbirth. 

Pregnancy-related accommodations also promote economic security for families. Women who are forced early into unpaid leave are set back with lost wages and, when they return to work, with missed advancement opportunities. Women who are let go don’t just lose out on critical income — they must fight extra hard to re-enter a job market that is especially brutal on the unemployed. Worse yet, they often confront a bias against hiring mothers with small children. 

Finally, employers might consider that providing accommodations to pregnant workers would even be good for the bottom line, in the form of reduced turnover, increased loyalty and productivity and healthier workers. With minor job modifications, a woman might be able to work up until the delivery of her child and return to work fairly soon after giving birth. If she were forced out instead, her employer would waste time and money finding a replacement. In the worst-case scenario, employers could be responsible for much higher medical costs if their workers were afraid to ask for accommodations and instead continued doing work that endangered their pregnancies. 

Three-quarters of women now entering the work force will become pregnant on the job, yet gaps in our civil rights laws leave this enormous class without the right to the modest accommodations that would protect them. New York’s Legislature should pass this law as soon as possible, and other states should follow. No pregnant woman in this country should have to choose between her job and a healthy pregnancy. 

Dina Bakst, a lawyer, is a founder and president of A Better Balance: The Work and Family Legal Center.

Pregnancy Care 

Prior to modern medicine, many mothers and their babies did not survive pregnancy and the birth process. Today, good prenatal care can significantly improve the quality of the pregnancy and the outcome for the infant and mother.

Information

Good prenatal care includes:

• Good nutrition and health habits before and during pregnancy
• Frequent prenatal examinations to detect early problems
• Routine ultrasounds to detect fetal abnormalities and problems
• Routine screening for:
  • Sexually transmitted diseases
  • Rubella immunity
  • Blood type problems (Rh and ABO)
  • Diabetes
  • Genetic disorders -- if a family history or the age of the mother presents a high risk
  • Blood pressure abnormalities
  • Urine protein

Women who choose to have an abortion usually do so in the very early stages of the pregnancy (usually before 12 weeks gestation). Abortion is legal through the 24th week of pregnancy. The abortion procedure, however, becomes more difficult with advancing gestational age, and many providers do not perform pregnancy terminations in the second trimester.
Women who plan to continue a pregnancy to term need to choose a health care provider who will provide prenatal care, delivery, and postpartum services. Provider choices in most communities include:

• Physicians specializing in obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN)
• Certified nurse midwives (CNMs)
• Certain family practice physicians
• Certain family nurse practitioners (FNPs) or physician assistants (PAs) who work with a physician

Family health care providers, or generalists, can help manage women throughout normal pregnancies and deliveries. If there is a problem with the pregnancy, your doctor will refer you to specialist.

The goals of prenatal care are to:

• Monitor both the mother and baby throughout the pregnancy
• Look for changes that may lead to a high-risk pregnancy
• Explain nutritional requirements throughout the pregnancy and postpartum period
• Explain activity recommendations or restrictions
• Address common complaints that may arise during pregnancy (for example, backache, joint pain, nausea, heartburn, headaches, urinary frequency, leg cramps, and constipation) and how to manage them, preferably without medications

Women who are considering becoming pregnant, or who are pregnant, should eat a balanced diet and take a vitamin and mineral supplement that includes at least 0.4 milligrams (400 micrograms) of folic acid. Folic acid is needed to decrease the risk of certain birth defects (such as spina bifida).
Pregnant women are advised to avoid all medications, unless the medications are necessary and recommended by a prenatal health care provider. Women should discuss all medication use with their providers.
Pregnant women should avoid all alcohol and drug use. They should not smoke. They should avoid herbal preparations and common over-the-counter medications that may interfere with normal development of the fetus.

Prenatal visits are typically scheduled:

• Every 4 weeks during the first 32 weeks of gestation
• Every 2 weeks from 32 to 36 weeks gestation
• Weekly from 36 weeks to delivery

Weight gain, blood pressure, fundal height, and fetal heart beats (as appropriate) are usually measured and recorded at each visit, and routine urine screening tests are performed.

When to Call the Doctor

• Call for an appointment if you suspect you are pregnant, are currently pregnant and are not receiving prenatal care, or if you are unable to manage common complaints without medication.
• Call your health care provider if you suspect you are pregnant and are on medications for diabetes, thyroid disease, seizures, or high blood pressure.
• Notify your health care provider if you are currently pregnant and have been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease, chemicals, radiation, or unusual pollutants.
• Call your health care provider if you are currently pregnant and you develop fever, chills, or painful urination.
• It is urgent that you call your health care provider if you are currently pregnant and notice any amount of vaginal bleeding, the membranes rupture (water breaks), or you experience physical or severe emotional trauma.

News & Features

• Efforts to Combat High Infant Mortality Rate Among Blacks
• Small Fixes: Drugs to Curb Deadly Inheritance of H.I.V.
• Blood Test Can Tell Fetal Sex at 7 Weeks, Study Says
• Demand Growing for Giving Birth at Home

Reference from A.D.A.M.