Email template (please send emails at Federal and Provincial level!

Email template if you need one:

Good Morning

I’m writing to address the issue of extending maternity leave this year. Please consider my following points below.

Moms have lost jobs with none to return to. They haven’t had access to physical and mental healthcare for themselves or their baby. They haven’t had time to focus on their baby’s development at the normal groups or with the normal time and resources.
Not to mention the missed time with their normal supports such as family and friends to help. Some mothers are still missing this basic support.

And the huge fact that there is no childcare at all available in many areas due to government restrictions on daycares and schools.

Mothers need more time to address all of these issues that have been placed on them due to Covid-19 and government restrictions. Moms and babies need the option of more time together because of the damage done to them by this pandemic.

Behind every one of those points is stories from mothers that actually keep me up at night. Stories they bravely shared together in a Facebook support group we created because there was nowhere else to talk.

Moms who can not feed their babies or did not know their babies were starving and underweight due to lack of access to normal support and resources. Moms sitting alone at home alone with nowhere to take their baby and nobody nearby to visit as post-partum depression slowly chokes her. Moms paralyzed with fear and anxiety because of constant changes in government rules surrounding their pregnancy and childbirth. Mothers in physical pain because they can not access the care they need at a time when they need it most. Mothers feeling so alone and afraid and yet too scared to ask for help for fear of shame, and not knowing where to ask for help due to lack of information given to them.

Please can this issue be addressed. Many moms and babies are suffering terribly right now. The long lasting impacts of this issue may even be yet to be seen. Currently, Government restrictions on mothers are doing more harm than good.

A quote from one mother “I just sometimes think having a baby was a mistake right now.” These are dangerous words. Very dangerous.

This is such a serious public health issue that needs addressing immediately. Either return the essential supports that have been stripped away from mothers overnight for two months now, or you must increase the support available significantly, and immediately.

I understand this is a terrible time with many people suffering. It is very important that people realize that moms and babies are very much some of them.

The pandemic has damaged them severely and they will need more time to heal.

Respectfully,
Vicky Frizzell R.N. BsN.