STUDIES SHOW HAVING TIME OFF TO RECOVER, WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT MONEY, IS KEY TO MATERNAL AND INFANT HEALTH, AND SO MUCH MORE.
By BINTA BEARD and CATHERINE D’IGNAZIO
APRIL 27, 2018 12:44 PM
“My experience of having a child was so destabilizing,” says Clarissa Doutherd, now the executive director of Parent Voices Oakland. “As a new mom running my own business, paid leave was not an option. The pressure to immediately go back to work, for survival, moved to the center, instead of caretaking for my son and ensuring he was healthy.”
Within months of her son’s birth, Doutherd’s independent bookkeeping business had folded and she found herself without a home or stable employment, and with a sick baby. “I couldn’t just bond with my child and I couldn’t take time and enjoy him. It was very isolating. He had many health issues in those early years, and I have no doubt my stress, and inability to be with him was a factor.”