Sad, simply true: Not every chore offers paid maternity leave in the U.Due south.—and the President thinks information technology'south almost time this became a given for female employees. "Many women can't even go a paid twenty-four hour period off to give birth—now, that's a pretty low bar," President Barack Obama said at the White Business firm Summit on Working Families on Monday. "That, we should be able to have intendance of."

He brings upwards a hot-button topic for many women right now—so we asked Women's Health'south Facebook followers to share how much paid time off they received (if whatsoever) to get a sense for what motherhood get out in this country is really like. Hither are some of the responses; as you can see, they vary greatly.

"I was in the Regular army. I received six weeks of paid leave. As a soldier, you get 6 months to get back into shape and dorsum to a weight that is inside Army standards. The sad function for me is my infant was ten months sometime when I had to deploy to Iraq for yr." —Delilah Gonzalez

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"Six to eight weeks inability leave (paid leave) depending on vaginal or Cesarean delivery. That was after all sick leave and vacation exit had been used, and then [the Family and Medical Get out Human activity] could be used—so you lot weren't paid, but you still had a task to go back to. Luckily, my company has been flexible and tolerant of my taking time off for my special needs child." —Jennifer Benton

"I work for a large bank. It offers 12 weeks paid motherhood and paternity exit, along with the choice to have additional unpaid bonding time, which I took advantage of." —Amanda Randall

"I work for the federal government. Because I had a C-section, I was given eight weeks paid leave. Otherwise it would have only been six weeks. And I was able to get these viii weeks considering I enrolled in the agency'due south medical bank program when I showtime joined—otherwise I would not have gotten paid once my vacation and ill time were exhausted. I decided to take five additional weeks unpaid to be home with my infant, and now I am deciding to possibly stay home indefinitely because this time with the baby isn't time I'll always get back. My boss asked me to read a textbook so that when I came back piece of work, I would be technically ready for my next consignment. I'yard not sure that is fifty-fifty legal to request/require an employee to work while she is on unpaid maternity leave, just needless to say, that book is still sitting on his bookshelf, not mine." —Nicole Whiteman

"With my starting time child, I was immune six weeks of unpaid time off. Going back to work was miserable, and I soon left that company. With my 2d child, I was given iii months fully paid time off. It was a completely dissimilar experience. I had fourth dimension to make daycare arrangements and really get a proficient routine going." —Jamie Cake

"I changed jobs mid-pregnancy, and so my son was considered a 'pre-existing status' and I was non offered maternity exit. I used sick pay for the first week, so I had unpaid leave for the next ii and a one-half. I had to go back to work before he was four weeks old. I worked for a major academy in their altitude education section." —Jennifer McCoy

"I was a teacher and could have 12 weeks, simply the only paid position was what sick leave I had accumulated. And my district'southward contribution to my retirement stopped if it was unpaid time off." —Jenn Bormann

"I live in Kentucky and piece of work as a nurse. I have a 7-week-one-time and but took six weeks maternity go out because I only had 4 weeks of sick PTO [paid fourth dimension off] time and no brusque-term disability. The hardest part for me was trying to get him on a schedule and making certain I was producing plenty milk to handle being away from him 12 to 14 hours on the days I piece of work; that and putting him in daycare before he can fifty-fifty get his immunizations is hard." —Amy Caudill

"At the time I worked as a labor and delivery nurse at a hospital. I had twins via C-section. I was off six weeks then dorsum to work full-time since that was all the PTO I had accrued. Unfortunately, I had my twins eleven months after starting the job, so I had to pay COBRA rates for insurance, which totaled around $1,300 for the six weeks!" —Jessica Rosa

"I have iv weeks paid and can accept upward to 12 full. With using up vacation time it works out to be nigh five weeks unpaid. I'k in the oil and gas industry." —Rachel Tilley

"I worked in a small restaurant with maybe 12 employees. My boss was groovy and would have given me the fourth dimension off that I wanted, but it was unpaid leave. I couldn't afford to accept more than my two weeks of holiday fourth dimension with my firstborn, simply I took four weeks off with my second child. I was blessed to take family bachelor to help care for my children, which made it so much easier to take the time away from them." —Jennifer Catron

Granted, it's upward for debate whether the government should step in to ensure a certain amount of paid motherhood leave is available to all women. Inquiry does prove, though, that women who take longer maternity leaves are less probable to endure from postpartum depression. That, combined with the ability to spend more time with your new child, is enough reason for some women to take unpaid leave if necessary.

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