“Having a baby is the most expensive health event that families face during their childbearing years. At the same time, a lack of workplace supports for many women during this critical time means a woman may not have paid sick days for prenatal appointments or well-baby care, or paid family and medical leave to use after giving birth,” said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, vice president of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

The reason this image resonates with so many is that it’s a symbol, explains Vicki Shabo of the National Partnership & Women and Families. “This photo encapsulates the dual demands placed on women increasingly taking on the role of breadwinners in families and also committed to giving their kids the right start,” she tells Yahoo Parenting. “It shows a lot of the dualities women face every day.”

The United States is one of only two countries that don’t guarantee paid maternity leave. The other one is Papua New Guinea, said Victoria S. Shabo, vice president of the National Partnership for Women and Families in Washington.

Vicki Shabo, Vice President at the National Partnership for Women and Families, the organization that helped create the FMLA, says if the U.S. does not pass a more comprehensive paid maternity leave plan, then it will face many consequences. “It’s not something that each family should be dealing with individually,” said Shabo. “Because it’s got consequences for the nation, it’s got consequences for the economy it’s got consequences for health and families well-being, it has consequences for businesses who are losing talented workers and facing unnecessary retention costs of turnover.”

What had us chanting and dancing in the snowfall for hours? Our “Not My Boss’s Business” rally outside of the Supreme Court! We rallied outside while justices heard oral arguments for a case that would give bosses the right to deny their employees birth control coverage just because they oppose it.

But then I heard about Obama’s latest initiative, which was announced to me in an E-mail I received Wednesday from Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for …