Allyson Felix still remembers the beeping of the monitors in the NICU as her daughter was fighting for her life after her preterm birth in 2018. After developing severe preeclampsia, Felix had an emergency C-section and delivered her daughter at 32 weeks. But even in that critical moment, her daughter’s survival wasn’t the only thing on her mind. Years later, speaking on a panel after the premiere of the short film Lifelines in early May, “I was reminded…what that feels like,” she said, “and then thinking about work.”

“It’s this time when you see your child fighting, and yet here you are thinking about your livelihood, and it’s such a horrible place to be,” said the Olympic champion, who co–executive produced the film. “Until people can really understand what that feels like, what that looks like, we have to continue to raise awareness because [paid leave] is something that everybody should absolutely have.” Running at just under 10 minutes, the short documentary shows how state paid leave programs can give families financial stability and a little breathing room when they need it most.

Standing in the hallway of The Annex in Brooklyn, Felix explained to me that she joined the nonprofit organization Paid Leave for All in co–executive producing Lifelines after her eyes were opened to these issues and the way “that so many families don’t get paid leave, have to be thrust immediately back into their responsibilities and work, and just the effect and impact that has.”

Felix, the most decorated female track-and-field Olympian athlete in history, wrote about her ordeal in a New York Times opinion article in 2019.