Baby in the House: Rep. Megan Jones brings baby to work at Iowa state house
Every day is Take Your Baby to Work Day for Iowa State Representative Megan Jones, and her newborn daughter, Alma, has been making quite the impression.
After giving birth on Jan. 24, Jones, a Republican representing House District 2 in Iowa, made the decision to return to work in the State Capitol a mere 13 days after giving birth.
With Alma being too young for daycare, and Jones not wanting to leave her constituents without representation, she made the decision to just go with it and bring Alma to work along with her.
"Being a legislator is kind of a unique position because no one can really fill in for me because no one can vote in my place. And so if I wasn’t here to vote, then my constituents wouldn’t have a voice and so I really wanted to make sure that I missed as few votes as possible,” the 31-year-old representative said. "I think we are just doing what a lot of other families are doing and that's just making the situation work."
For Jones, making the situation work involves a weekly three-hour drive every Monday morning with Alma to the state house from the Sioux Rapids home where she lives with her husband and 2-year-old-son, Anchor.
Next they're off to the "offisery," the word she's coined for her office-nursery hybrid. From attending meetings in a bouncer to being worn by her mom throughout the state house in a baby carrier, Alma, who is less than 2 months old, has already become a regular fixture on the House floor -- and a bipartisan force at that.
"When there's a baby around people feel like they can’t be so mean-spirited," Republican Representative Mike Sexton, who is Jones' officemate, told ABC News.
The baby has brought in a positive atmosphere, Sexton noted, adding that Alma will be missed when she starts attending daycare. "We on the House floor will desperately miss that little baby," he added.
House Speaker Republican Linda Upmeyer, who has supported Jones throughout the process, told ABC News she thinks bringing Alma to work sends a positive message to young women.
"I think it’s a good message to young women that we can find a way to work with their young lives -- it shouldn’t be a barrier to being able to serve in the legislature," Upmeyer said. "I’m excited to have more women serve. I think it's a good thing.”
When Jones has to speak on the floor or has to run a meeting, Upmeyer said that there are always extra sets of hands ready and willing to take their turn helping with Alma.
Jones avoided the issue with the birth of her first child since the legislature was not in session. Now she hopes her example can show other young women who might want to run for office that they can do it too and that even if the circumstances are not ideal, they can make it work.
“While this maybe isn’t the preferred situation, it does work and we can make it work and we can make accommodations," she told ABC News. "And actually it's been a very positive experience. I hope that people can look at our situation and think that they can make it work too."
