Maternity leave is there to give you a chance to bond with Baby and adjust to life with this gorgeous little person, without having to worry about going to work.
However, for 24-year-old Nicole Ritchie the thoughts of going on maternity leave left her feeling anxious, something she opened up about to SELF magazine recently.
Working at a salon where she isn't entitled to any benefits, including paid maternity leave, the thoughts of taking those few months off to spend with her newborn was causing the young mum quite a lot of worry.
However, after some investigation into alternative financial avenues, Nicole stumbled across GoFundMe, a crowdfunding website where she found more and more parents in a similar situation looking for financial support.
So she decided to start her own campaign after seeing those posted by others, thinking there was nothing to lose.
While this might sound like a wild idea, Nicole is one of over 1,300 mums in the U.S who have taken to the website to get through their maternity leave.
Last week, we brought you the story of Courtney Hill, a mum of a toddler who found out she is expecting triplets just a few days after her husband was killed in a trucking accident. In the aftermath of her loss, Courtney's family set up a crowdfunding platform to help her through her pregnancy financially after losing her husband.
Not only do these stories show the growing number of parents who are utilising the sites for support with different aspects of their pregnancies, it also highlights the need to allow all women access to paid maternity leave, whether via the company they work for or the State.
