ALBANY, NY (WENY)--A NEW MANDATE, THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE NATION, PROVIDES 20 HOURS OF ADDITIONAL PAID SICK LEAVE FOR PRENATAL CARE.  

SOME HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS SAID PRENATAL CARE IMPROVES HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR MOMS AND THEIR BABIES SUCH AS REDUCING preterm LABOR.  

THEY ALSO SAID LEAVE LIKE THIS CAN HELP MOMS GET MORE REST AND STRESS LEVELS.  

“I’ve been doing this for about thirty years and certainly in the last maybe five to ten years have we really begun to identify what mental health does to our pregnant moms and how important it is to really address issues specifically related to mental health,” said Dr. Manuel Arreguin, MD, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the Guthrie Clinic.

THE PRENATAL LEAVE ALSO APPLIES TO MOTHERS WHOSE BABIES WILL BE STILL BORN.  

DR. ARREGUIN SAid AS AN OBSTETRICIAN ONE OF THE WORST THINGS TO EXPERIENCE IS DIAGNOSING A STILL BORN.  

“How do you begin to move on from being told your baby is no longer alive? he said. 

DR. ARREGUIN STRESSEd THE IMPORTANCE OF PAID LEAVE FOR GRIEVING MOMS.  

“We just can’t simply expect moms to jump back and get into their normal life when they’ve had such an important part of their life taken away from them,” he said.