Pregnant people in New York would have 40 hours of paid leave to attend prenatal medical appointments under a new proposal by Gov. Kathy Hochul after the state’s legislative session kicked off this week.

The Democrat’s plan to expand the state’s paid family leave policy, which would need to be approved by the state Legislature, aims to expand access to high-quality prenatal care and prevent maternal and infant deaths in New York, an issue that especially affects low-income and minority communities.

The U.S. infant mortality rate, a measure of how many babies die before they reach their first birthday, is worse than other high-income countries, which experts have attributed to poverty, inadequate prenatal care and other possibilities. The U.S. rate rose 3% in 2022 — the largest increase in two decades, according to a 2023 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • greedytacothief@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Why would you get 12 months off for the duration of your 9 month pregnancy? Do babies take longer to make in other parts of the world?

    This law is about when you have a fetus on the inside, not a baby on the outside. Maternity leave in New York is only 12 weeks however, which sucks.

    • hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      11 months ago

      Oh, I misunderstood that then.

      Anyways, in Finland you can get preggomoney for 40 days, and parental allowance for 320 days though it’s not 100% of your salary but some decent percentage

      You can start taking out parental leave after the baby is born. Parental allowance is paid by Kela for a total of 320 working days. If a child has two parents, the days are divided equally between both parents. If you wish, you can give up some of your parental allowance days for the benefit of someone else. You and another person participating in the care of the child can get daily allowances for parents at the same time for a maximum of 18 days.

      https://www.kela.fi/daily-allowances-for-parents