Every family should have access to high-quality maternal health care, paid parental leave and affordable child care.

By Erica Phillips

This story first appeared at The 74 , a nonprofit news site covering education. Sign up for free newsletters from The 74 to get more like this in your inbox.

I recently welcomed my second child into the world, and while this is a joyful moment for my family, my experience during pregnancy and childbirth was deeply sobering. Along the way, I was intimately aware of the risks I faced.

When I delivered my first child, I was diagnosed with thrombocytopenia, a condition that caused excessive bleeding and made an epidural too dangerous. After delivery, stress triggered both preeclampsia and shingles. My daughter spent her first week in the NICU while my

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