NEW YORK (WKBW) — If you're expecting a baby or had one recently were you able to easily take time from work for all your doctor's appointments?
It's something many women have a hard time with and now a new proposal could help.
As part of her State of the State plan, Governor Kathy Hochul wants to give pregnant women in New York 40 hours of paid leave to attend prenatal medical appointments.
Under New York's current paid family leave law, short-term disability benefits aren't available until four weeks before the baby's birth.
Janelle Stevens is very familiar with the process of having a baby. The working mom of four just had twins five months ago. We asked her what she thought of the proposal.
"I think it would be a great thing because so often it's hard to get off from your daytime job for your appointments," said Stevens.
Dr. Millicent Trevette is an OBGYN at Suburban Women's Healthcare. She says prenatal visits are vital for mom and baby.
"It's extremely important," said Trevette. "We can prevent fetal growth restrictions. We can prevent complications that can happen due to medical conditions."
Dr. Trevette says pregnant patients start out visiting the doctor every four weeks until they are 28 weeks pregnant, and then it's every two weeks and then every week after 37 weeks.
"We track the growth of the baby by measuring their belly to their baby's heartbeat every time," said Trevette. "We check their urine to make sure there's no protein or glucose in their urine."
Rachel Kaufman is a pediatrician and says making it easier for families to visit the doctor during pregnancy and after delivery could help save lives.
"I've cared for a lot of people over the years where just the pressures of life mean that they fall behind on their care and I know that they're loving and attentive parents but then we have to work to try to catch up. Sometimes we've missed an opportunity to do something that would have been helpful," she explained.
As a nurse, Stevens is very busy but tells me thankfully she never has trouble taking off for medical appointments and all her babies are, healthy and doing great.
