House Hearing on Paid Parental Leave Leave Bill

Washington Post: A Plea for Parental Leave, by Stephen Barr:

Last summer, Amy S. Costantino suddenly went into labor and gave birth to twin sons -- 3 1/2 months premature. Each weighed less than two pounds, and they spent 90 days in a neonatal intensive-care unit.

She soon was confronted with a stark choice: use the sick leave and vacation time she had accrued over her 16-year career as a federal employee to be with her sons in intensive care, or go back to work and save the paid leave so she could be at home when her sons were released by the hospital.

Costantino, 39, decided to save the leave for when her boys came home. But, she said at a House hearing yesterday, "I often wonder if I made the right decision," especially when she thinks about not being at the hospital to feed and comfort her babies at their most vulnerable time.

Read more on HR 3799, the paid parenting leave bill, from the NPWF Daily Women's Health Policy Report.