Birthing and Rebirthing: Why the Logic of Baptism Demands the Church Commit to Just Parental Leave

With high C-section rates, high maternal mortality rates, formula companies that lobby against parental leave, and no federal guarantee of paid family leave after childbirth, the metaphor of baptism-as-birth functions differently in America. In this essay, I recount my and my husband’s experience of childbirth recovery without sufficient family leave while employed by a Christian institution and the Episcopal Church, respectively. I make the case that maternity and paternity leave are Christian issues because Christians baptize and choose to metaphorize that baptism as childbirth.