Postpartum complications like tearing, pelvic floor dysfunction, back or pelvic pain, incontinence, infections, and mood and anxiety disorders are common, affecting hundreds of thousands of American women each year. Physicians typically recommend that women take leave from work for at least 6 to 8 weeks after childbirth to recover and establish breastfeeding, and many women need more time.  However taking this time off work is impossible for many American women. The United States remains the only industrialized nation with no national paid leave policy, and 86% of workers have no access to paid leave. Forty percent of women of childbearing age are not entitled to take a single day of leave – even unpaid – following childbirth under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). One quarter of employees return to work within two weeks after giving birth.

As a result, many women return to work before they are fully recovered from childbirth and related medical conditions. These women may need reasonable accommodations to perform their job duties effectively, to avoid exacerbating their medical conditions, and to protect their health.

Health care providers can support their patients’ postpartum recovery and long term health by providing them with effective work accommodation notes that help patients get the work accommodations they need following childbirth.

A team of doctors and lawyers created online tools to help postpartum care providers to write work notes that increase the likelihood that patients will receive the accommodations they need to continue working and earning an income. Note that these online tools refer to “pregnancy,” but they are equally useful for writing postpartum accommodation notes. Simply communicate in your note that the patient has a condition related to her “recent pregnancy” where the guidance says to refer to the patient’s “pregnancy.”

Please select the state where your patient works (not necessarily the state where you practice) to get started.

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