A New York state law that went into effect this year aims to help pregnant women in the private sector workforce.

Those women will get 20 hours of paid leave for prenatal care, appointments and procedures.

It’s said to be the first of its kind in the nation.

"We love to see patients getting the appropriate care that they need and I think it will greatly benefit them,” says Dr. Brittany Sanford, an OB-GYN specialist at Westchester Medical Center. She says appointments become more frequent as moms get closer to delivery. She plans to let patients know about this new law.

"There's so many appointments that they should be getting that many times patients might miss because work takes priority and they need to support themselves or their family," says Sanford.

In a virtual interview Friday, state Labor Department Commissioner Roberta Reardon told News 12 the law may benefit the workforce by keeping employees healthy and happy.

They estimate it will help about 125,000 women each year.

“Getting ready to have a child involves a lot of planning and a lot of thinking and probably a lot of anxiety, we want to take the anxiety about your paycheck out of it,” says Reardon.

State Sen. Bill Weber, who represents most of Rockland, supports this new law and wants to let the public know about it.

Weber said, “Hopefully it's less stressful situation knowing that they have these hours available to them and they'll make sure that they go to these doctors’ visits, which are as we all know extremely important."

It’s reported that spouses of pregnant women are not eligible for the prenatal leave.