Superstore preview: Amy’s maternity leave nightmare

Amy discovers the maternity leave she was counting on won’t be coming through while Jonah and Garrett hire seasonal help.

Finally giving birth should mean the hard part’s over. But things aren’t going to be that easy for new mom Amy on this week’s Superstore.

Last week, the Cloud 9 employee went into labor at the same time as her coworker, Dinah.

While Dinah was given the royal treatment — a fancy hospital, hot male doctors, hotel-style pillows, etc. — Amy had to suffer through her delivery at a clinic for low-income patients. She had Jonah there to support her, but she also ended up giving birth next to a dead lady, so you’d think the worst would be over for Amy.

Except, this is Superstore, the show that loves to mine comedy from other people’s everyday misfortunes while also giving us subtle, yet scathing, social commentary.

Cue this week’s episode, “Maternity Leave.”

After experiencing the trauma of childbirth, you’d think Amy might be afforded a few months of maternity leave. Or at least weeks. Or, at the very least, days.

Unfortunately, whatever healthcare plan Amy’s working with right now has completely screwed her over in that department. Every mom’s worst nightmare comes true for our favorite assistant store manager when she finds out that those weeks of maternity leave she was betting on aren’t going to come through.

Again, we’re sure the show will find some way to pull the humor from this situation, but it’s pretty disheartening to think that this is the reality for so many new moms. Other countries get months of paid maternity leave and government-assigned nannies. In America, we get to dip into our vacation days or schedule time off without pay to bond with and take care of a newborn.

We’re assuming Dinah’s probably going to be afforded plenty of time away from the store — not that she’d take it — but it sounds like poor Amy will be celebrating “take your kid to work” day for the next few months.

While Amy figures out a plan sans maternity leave, Jonah and Garrett are put in charge of seasonal hiring, which goes about as well as you’d expect, and Cheyenne and Mateo campaign to get Amy to change her baby’s name.

As if losing her maternity leave wasn’t bad enough for poor Amy.

Superstore airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC. Check back here on Culturess for our reviews of each episode.