Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe discusses her bill to get paid parental leave for state workers. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Isabella Sepahban)

FRANKFORT — State employees could take up to four weeks of paid parental leave under a bill that the Kentucky Senate approved 28-10 on Tuesday.?

Senate Bill 142 would entitle state government workers who’ve held their jobs for at least a year to take up to four weeks of paid leave after birth or adoption. State employees would also be able to take two weeks of paid parental leave for a foster care or kinship care placement.?

Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe, the sponsor, called the measure “a step in the right direction” and said it would spare would-be parents from having to hoard sick days and vacation time in order to prepare for the arrival of a child.

The Lexington Republican recalled that when she was a member of Lexington’s council she saw how “incredible young professionals … saved sick time over several years … in order to have a way to pay for the first weeks home with a new baby.”

Bledsoe said employees she knew in Lexington would even go as far as “working when they were sick,” to prevent using a sick day so they could save it for future leave.

According to the nonprofit A Better Balance, Kentucky neighbors Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, and Missouri have paid parental leave policies in place for state employees. Federal employees can take up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave.?

A Better Balance also found that when people have access to paid parental leave, they are less likely to rely on public assistance programs.?

Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, R-Taylor Mill, introduced legislation dubbed “Momnibus” on Jan. 17. The House on Tuesday approved the bill which aims to produce better outcomes for moms and their babies. (Photo provided)

FRANKFORT — A maternal health bill nicknamed “Momnibus’ was unanimously approved by the Kentucky House Tuesday after about 20 minutes of discussion.?

The bipartisan Momnibus came out of a working group of Republican and Democratic women in the House and the Senate.?

The Momnibus legislation would expand the Health Access Nurturing Development Services (HANDS) program and allow for home visitation programs to be available up to three years after a child’s birth. It also would educate mothers on topics such as the benefits of breastfeeding, safe sleep for infants, and provide lactation consultation and equipment. These services would also be available via Telehealth.

Supporters say Momnibus addresses Kentucky’s high rate of maternal deaths following childbirth.

Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, the bill’s sponsor,? said that “53% of women who die in the year following childbirth die as a result of their substance-use disorder.”?

Other factors that increase maternal mortality include diabetes, heart disease and mental illness.?

“These are all made more difficult during and after pregnancy,” Moser said, “and can cause dangerous situations.”

Although these situations are harmful and at times, even deadly, Moser said that “deaths due to any of these factors are usually preventable, and the ways to prevent these deaths are to identify and treat these diseases early in the pregnancy, if not before.”?

“This is why prenatal care is so critical,” she said.?

During their workgroup, Moser and her colleagues discovered that “there’s no structured mechanism to accessing mental health care quickly, in that Kentucky families lack support during the postpartum period to keep mothers, babies, and their families healthy.”

Momnibus aims to help decrease these high maternal mortality rates by ensuring access to insurance coverage for pregnant women.?

Although there are special enrollment periods to buy insurance coverage for marriage, divorce, and fostering children, there are no special enrollment periods available for pregnancy, said Moser.?

“A special enrollment period will allow pregnant women to purchase insurance coverage for pregnancy to get the care that she and her baby need during the prenatal period, for a healthy delivery, and during postpartum,” she said.?

Momnibus also aims to address the lack of mental health care available to pregnant women by implementing a new psychiatric access program called Lifeline for Moms.

According to Moser, this program will establish “a hotline for providers to get an immediate consultation for a mother in need of mental health services.”

The lawmakers working on Momnibus have already applied and received a $750,000 grant to start implementing the program. This grant would be used to “specify the needed stakeholders to study birth and pregnancy outcomes, make recommendations to improve outcomes, provide oversight for the Lifeline for Moms program, and provide an annual report of their research and observations,” according to Moser.?

Momnibus can now head to the Senate for consideration.