Maria was a 27-year-old pregnant woman who worked at a chicken processing plant in Tennessee. She had two young children and was excited about this pregnancy. She worked on the assembly line and was on her feet for an eight-hour shifts and often was required to work overtime. As her pregnancy progressed, this work became more difficult. Her legs were swollen, her back hurt and she had cramping in her belly. She got a letter requesting that she be given a stool to sit on and periodic water breaks. She was told by her employer that breaks were not possible and she would lose her job if she filed for those accommodations.

In her seventh month, she started having contractions and she was admitted to the hospital for preterm labor and dehydration. This was luckily stopped, and she was discharged from the hospital and told she could continue working as long as she was not on her feet all day. When she returned to work the next day, she was fired because they told her accommodations could not be made. She lost her insurance and had to go on state Medicaid. This meant she had to change her OB provider late in her pregnancy but was not able to find someone to accept her this late in pregnancy. Pregnancy can be hard for any woman. This is a situation that no pregnant woman should have to go through.