httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siI0b5nmBUQ
Following the birth of Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s baby last week, the U.S. Senate took a historic step Wednesday by voting to allow its members to bring babies onto the chamber floor.
Duckworth, who became the first senator to give birth while in office when her daughter was born April 9, called for the change.
“I would like to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for helping bring the Senate into the 21st century by recognizing that sometimes new parents also have responsibilities at work,” Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, said in a statement.
Policies in the U.S. for working women lag behind the attitudes of most in the U.S., w the majority of mothers work, Percheski said.
Some created petitions calling for the rule change, so Duckworth could vote during maternity leave, while others sent bottles and onesies to Duckworth’s office.
The 32-year-old working mother of two said she identified with Duckworth’s plight and recognized the unique challenges she had in the Senate, as well as that she represents a larger issue for working mothers in all sectors.
“This brings to light how hard it actually is,” said Pike-Norton, who now works in alumni relations at the University of Chicago and is finishing up her own maternity leave after giving birth to her son about 13 weeks ago.