Grieving Mom Says New York State's Paid Family Leave Does Not Help Women After Stillbirth

stillbirth Paid Family Leave Cassidy Crough New York Paid Family Leave

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald May 16, 11:55 pm

Photo: (Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Women struggling after stillbirth are denied paid family leave, according to one angry mom who wants to change the law. Cassidy Crough suffered tremendous heartbreak when she lost her daughter Olivia at 36 weeks when the umbilical cord became wrapped around her neck. The 34-year-old gave birth on March 17, after 16 hours of labor.

Crough was emotional when talking to the New York Post, saying "I still gave birth to a human being. I am still suffering all the postpartum symptoms that every other female does, the heavy bleeding, the depression, not being able to lift heavy objects."

Crough added that the state of New York's approach to this is thoroughly demoralizing and disgusting. Crough's nightmare started during a routine doctor's appointment about a month ahead of her due date.

Crough gets shocking news with medical staff not finding baby's heartbeat

Crough, a former assistant district attorney in the Bronx who had just started a new job with a private law firm in the Hudson Valley, said that she was just on a high, thinking how thankful she was, how excited she was to meet her baby and be her mom.

Crough had noticed that baby Olivia seemed to be less active, and asked the doctor for fetal monitoring. It was not the first time the nervous, soon-to-be mom Crough had made such a request. The unthinkable happened this time, though, as medical staff could not find a heartbeat, with an ultrasound confirming the worst.

Crough's doctor relayed the bad news, telling her "There's no heartbeat, no life." Crough and her husband were immediately rushed to the hospital, where emergency labor was induced. Baby Olivia arrived the next afternoon, with the couple getting to spend about 90 minutes with her.

According to the group Push Pregnancy, about 1 in 170 pregnancies in the United States end in stillbirth and at least 25 percent of those are preventable.

After spending some time with their dead daughter, the couple then had to consider questions no new parents think about. According to Crough, they were asked questions such as "Do you want an autopsy? Do you want to cremate her? Do you want a religious figure to bless her? What funeral home are you using?" Crough said these are not questions you expect when you are going to have a baby.

New York's Paid Family Leave only applies to parents bonding with baby

It got worse for Crough days later when the insurance company called to ask the grieving mom to voluntarily withdraw her request for maternity leave, because baby Olivia had been stillborn. The insurance company offered her short term disability instead, which gives just six weeks off and pays just $554 total.

New York's Paid Family Leave, which only applies to parents who are "bonding" with their child, provides roughly $1,000 a week. Though Crough lives in Connecticut at the moment, she is not eligible for that state's family leave.

According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, just eight states have paid family leave policies, and only one includes stillbirth and miscarriages, and that is the District of Columbia.