As of the start of the new year, many New Hampshire parents have expanded rights to take leave to go to medical appointments for childbirth, postpartum care and infant exams.

House Bill 2, budget policy legislation Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed June 27, contains the new leave provisions, which will apply to businesses with 20 employees or more starting Jan. 1.

Eligible employees will be able to take up to 25 hours of leave during the first year after the birth or adoption of a child. There is no requirement that the employer pay for this leave, but an employee will be permitted to use any accrued paid leave or vacation for this purpose.

The legislation specifies that when the employee returns from their or their child’s health appointment, their job will still be available to them.

The employee is required to provide “reasonable notice to the employer prior to the leave and make a reasonable effort to schedule the leave so as not to unduly disrupt the operations of the employer.”

It also states that an employer may ask for documentation from the employee to ensure the time was used for its intended purpose.

Rep. Ross Berry, R-Weare, said that some of these provisions were “poorly written,” and that led him to introduce House Bill 1250, which lawmakers will consider next year.

His bill would require employees to give at least 15 days’ notice when they intend to take leave for medical appointments for childbirth, postpartum care and infant exams.

HB 1250 would also permit employers not to allow the employee to continue in their job after the medical appointment if “doing so would unduly disrupt the operations of the employer.”

He gave an example of a situation in which an employee should not be reinstated.

“Let me explain this,” Berry said. “I own a child care center. If a teacher goes, and I shut her classroom down, and she comes back and the kids are all gone, how do I put her back into her job?”

He also said he added the 15 days’ notice requirement because the current legislative language just refers to “reasonable” notice.

“What’s reasonable?” he asked. “Is it two hours, two weeks, two months?”

The new leave rights originally appeared in Senate Bill 246, whose prime sponsor was N.H. Sen. Denise Ricciardi, R-Bedford.

That bill was known as “The New Hampshire Momnibus 2.0” — combining the words “mom” and the word for a multifaceted bill, an “omnibus.”

Other provisions of SB 246, which was tabled, were also included in HB 2.

They include $150,000 to train rural emergency responders on perinatal and birthing emergencies, $275,000 to set up a provider-to-provider perinatal psychiatric consultation phone line and $30,000 to examine ways to support the sustainability of independent birth centers.

A number of birth centers, particularly in rural communities, have closed in recent years in New Hampshire. For example, the Monadnock Birth Center in Swanzey, N.H., closed late last year.

Also included were policy provisions requiring increased access to depression screenings and insurance coverage for home visits for pregnant and postpartum women.

Ricciardi told The Sentinel in July that her legislation will likely save lives.

“Not only did I want to sponsor this because of how this will help moms and families in the Granite State, but, you know, I’m a mom, too, and I know what it feels like, and it becomes very personal when you can identify with the struggle that families go through,” she said.

Ricciardi was a co-sponsor of the original Momnibus, which passed in 2023.

It extended postpartum Medicaid coverage from two to 12 months and expanded benefits to include costs of doulas, lactation services and donor breast milk.

That bill also required certain employers to provide access to sufficient space and break periods for nursing mothers to express milk during working hours.

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.