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06th Feb 2017

Lauren is 260 weeks pregnant (but too busy to give birth)

Katie Mythen-Lynch

It may sound absurd, but most US workers – 86 percent – don’t have access to paid maternity leave.

In fact, only four states have paid family and medical leave laws, meaning nearly one in four new mums is back at work within two weeks of giving birth.

Now the National Partnership for Women and Families want the world to know just how absurd the situation is. To illustrate their point, they’ve released a 93-second video story about a Denver paralegal called Lauren.

Lauren can’t afford to take time off work to have her baby, so she’s decided to just stay pregnant.
You know, for six years.

The video, entitled A Long Five Years, is voiced by actress Sophia Bush and makes a powerful case for access to a national paid family leave programme for women in the US.

 Watch it in full here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oQ2do02hO0