Power in Numbers! Spread the Jelly and Bobbie for Change Went to D.C. to Lobby Lawmakers About Paid Leave and Maternal Health
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Amrit Tietz and Lauren Levinger of Spread The Jelly—an editorial resource and storytelling platform for every motherhood journey—recently joined Bobbie for Change’s lobby day in Washington D.C. The duo brought together mothers and advocates from their community to speak directly to lawmakers about paid family leave and improving maternal mortality rates particularly amongst Black and brown communities. Here, they share a look inside the emotive day.
“This week, we had the incredible opportunity to join Bobbie for Change on Capitol Hill. As Bobbie’s official media collaborator, we curated a group of parent activists—Whitney Port, Hannah Bronfman, Iskra Lawrence, Sophia Li, Anna Malaika Tubbs, Meena Harris, Jaycina Almond, and Dr. Max Goldstein—and joined Bobbie’s longtime nonprofit partners Paid Leave for All, 4Kira4Moms, and BirthFund in the fight for safer births and federal paid family and medical leave for all.
We launched Spread The Jelly a little over a year ago, and in that time it’s become a platform for countless women’s stories—amassing over 36 million views in the process. The response has reinforced what we’ve always known: mothers are desperately looking for support. And while their journeys are deeply nuanced, the bottom line is the same. The system meant to protect mothers has failed them.
More than half of births in America are described as traumatic, with Black and Indigenous mothers facing significantly higher maternal mortality rates. It’s especially frustrating to know that over 80% of maternal deaths are preventable, meaning solutions are within reach. Our goal was to speak with lawmakers on the difference federal policies in favor of mothers could make. We spoke with Charles Johnson, the founder of 4Kira4Moms, who lost his wife, Kira, following a routine C-section. Now, left raising their two sons alone, Charles is on a mission to eradicate maternal mortality. Alongside his story, we also spoke to our own experiences of how the health care system has historically failed us.
As Ayanna Pressley shared at our welcome briefing: “Policy dictates who lives and dies.” The advocacy needs are urgent, and the time to act is now. And yes, Bipartisan support is crucial—regardless of who holds office. As it stands today, no Senate Republicans have signed on in support of the Family Act.
When we launched Spread The Jelly, our mission was to provide a platform for women to talk about “the sticky stuff,” from fertility struggles to postpartum depression. So it felt natural to join the fight with Bobbie, the only infant formula brand—in an industry that has historically lobbied against it—to advocate for paid leave.
It was an inspiring day, filled with meetings with members of the Congressional Dads Caucus like Jimmy Gomez, Andy Kim and Rob Menendez, and with the magnetic Congressman Jim McGovern, a longtime advocate for many family-focused initiatives. Because hey, men need to be in on this, too!
We closed out on a high note with Senator Patty Murray, a legendary supporter of women’s rights who has served in the Senate since 1993. Her first floor speech was on paid leave—can you believe how long we’ve had to fight for this?! Similarly, Senator Tammy Duckworth, the first senator to give birth while serving in office, who made history by bringing her baby onto the Senate floor.
Twelve meetings, 11,000 steps, and a sandwich-and-chip lunch from the senate cafeteria—which was honestly better than we expected—later, we left feeling reinvigorated in the belief that a future in which every woman has access to a safe, dignified birth—and where families are supported by federal paid leave and medical leave—is possible.
Photo by: Lelanie Foster1/30We promised our community we’d talk about the sticky stuff and we took that all the way to Capitol Hill. Proud smiles from what we hope is the first of many lobby days to come
Photo by: Lelanie Foster2/30Moms on a mission…because nobody gets the job done like we do
