Patty Hernandez
On the Clock is Motherboard's reporting on the organized labor movement, gig work, automation, and the future of work.
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"While this does not prove causality, it is reasonable to offer ways to decrease stress for individuals who are pregnant rather than create more stress in their lives in order to provide the best possibility for a healthy pregnancy," Dr. Karlin said. "This worker was put between a rock and a hard place. Either you don’t get paid, so you can’t feed yourself and your family, or you come to work and put your pregnancy at risk." Approximately, 10 to 15 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, according to a 2013 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The majority of those miscarriages occur in the first trimester.In April 2020, a few weeks into the pandemic, Hernandez signed up to work at the Amazon warehouse in Tracy, because her family closed the Mexican restaurant and a few taco trucks they owned, where she worked. Amazon was rapidly hiring when most places were shutting down—and it had a good reputation in Hernandez' community. "I was mostly aware of the positives," she said. "I had two cousins working there. They said it’s so fun. You work four days a week. They made it sound like the place to work. In my perspective, I feel like they don’t care about you no matter what you’re going through. It’s very hard to miscarry because they don’t want to accommodate you."Do you have tip to share with us about pregnancy accommodations at Amazon? Please get in touch with Lauren Gurley, the reporter, via email lauren.gurley@vice.com or on Signal 201-897-2109.