A Texas mom gave birth to a stillborn baby—and her maternity leave was denied

Texas mother Elena Andres delivered a stillborn baby on May 6 at 37 weeks gestation. She was told her daughter no longer had a heartbeat after Andres experienced food poisoning symptoms. After a traumatic and intense labor and delivery, Andres gave birth to her stillborn baby, Maxine.

“It was very traumatic,” Andres tells TODAY.com. “Immediately when they held her up you could just tell — she was gray. She was gone.”

And then she was denied maternity leave after giving birth—it was revoked by her employer, the Austin Public Health Department.

When Andres returned home from the hospital two days later, she informed her HR department that she’d be taking her maternity leave “a little bit early” since she was grieving the loss of her baby.

“They said: ‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, but you don’t qualify for (leave) anymore,'” Andres says.

According to the Texas Tribune, Austin city employees are able to take eight weeks of paid parental leave after “the birth of a child or the placement of a child for adoption or foster care” and up to an additional four weeks unpaid under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

Andres’ HR representative told her that maternity leave only applies to those who “give birth and care for a healthy newborn baby.”

In a statement to TODAY.com, a spokesperson for the City of Austin said that “the loss of a child is an unthinkable tragedy for any parent” and that they “will ensure any city employee experiencing such a devastating loss receives the support and time they need.”

“While the death of a child is not covered under FMLA, there are several other leave options available in the City, such as accrued leave, emergency leave and the City’s leave bank that fellow employees contribute to,” the spokesperson said. “We care for and value our staff members and are continuously looking for ways to provide needed support and will update policies to do so when those needs become evident. Our Human Resources Department is currently developing a leave program for when an employee loses a child for consideration and approval by City leadership.”

“I felt so small, like they were saying my pregnancy didn’t count,” Andres told the Tribune. “Like my daughter didn’t count.”

Andres says she used up all of her sick time, paid vacation time, and received short-term disability coverage for six more weeks off in order to heal and grieve the loss of Maxine. She says after the Texas Tribune reported on her story, and inquired about the city’s policy, her HR department offered her four additional weeks of paid time off.

Her postpartum experience was excruciating, Andres says. She experienced severe pelvic pain and the bleeding that comes with childbirth for two months after her delivery.

“My milk came in — that was horrible,” she says. ” I had to put cabbage and ice (on my breasts) to help with the swelling. It was miserable — a constant reminder of what happened. The body doesn’t just go back to normal.”

Andres is also mom to two-year-old son Adrian, who she still had to take care of despite enduring the tragedy of losing his little sister.

“I was devastated. I lost 40 pounds. It was hard to get out of bed. I just cried all the time, but life doesn’t stop — I have a toddler,” she says. “I love him so much, so he made things easier at times, but a 2-year-old is going to make everything also way harder.”

Andres returned to work on July 18, two and a half months after her stillbirth.

The Tribune reports that Austin city leaders, including Mayor Kirk Watson and several members of the City Council, are pushing for changes to the city’s paternal leave policy.

“The anger that I have at the policies of the city — I’m never going to forget,” Andres says. “It’s so unnecessarily and unbelievably cruel.”