Going Back to Work After Maternity Leave

You’re probably not surprised to hear that most moms are less than thrilled about returning to work after maternity leave.  Leaving your little one after all you’ve been through is gut wrenching for many moms, and if you had a short maternity leave you may be physically feeling less than 100%.  If you’re about to go back to work after maternity leave, you can probably understand why many new moms decide to not go back at all.

But life is real and households with one income ain’t what they used to be.  So if you’re transitioning back to work after giving birth, there are some things you can do to make it as painless as possible.

Ask For A Flexibility Schedule Initially

Getting the ability to ease back into your work schedule can do wonders for your mental health.  Don’t be afraid to ask your employer if you can start part-time initially and transition back into full-time over the course of a few weeks or months.  If that’s not possible, see if you can come back with a hybrid work-from-home model to give you more flexibility.

Set Realistic Expectations With Yourself

Maybe before you set expectations with your employer, it would be important to set realistic expectations for yourself as well.  Your productivity will most likely not be the same when you go back initially.  You may be a superwoman at work, but it’s rare to walk back into a job after giving birth and pick up right where you left off.  Expect it to be difficult, and don’t feel let down if you feel like you lost a step.  You’ll get it back!

Set Realistic Expectations With Your Employer

Be sure to communicate expectations with your company prior to return.  You’ll want to do this for a few reasons.  First, you want to make sure they can accommodate everything you need if you are breastfeeding.  Second, you’ll need to feel out how flexible they will allow you to be with your schedule (i.e. part-time transition, work from home, leaving to pick up the baby if needed, etc.).  Depending on how strenuous your job is, you may want to make sure they understand that your productivity may not be at 100% starting off.  Also, take some time to learn about your employee rights under FMLA.

Setup a Safety Net

Going back to work after maternity leave is especially painful if you don’t have reliable help.  Be sure to build a safety net of support from those around you.  Always have a backup plan if a babysitter calls out or you can’t run out to pick him up.  Not having a plan B can add to anxiety while you work.

Prioritize Your Family Time

So many new moms feel like they don’t spend enough time with their babies after they go back to work.  This can make it painful to get in the car and drive to work everyday when you feel you’re being deprived of your time with your baby.  Block out some time every morning or evening for you to spend time with your family.  It will make it much easier to go work the next day.

The postpartum period is a challenging time for new moms, and one of the hardest events of the process is the return to work.  As long as you prepare yourself ahead of time, you can make your return to work as painless as possible.  There are many postpartum support websites that can help you set up a return to work plan, research your employee rights, and mentally prepare yourself for the challenges of returning to work.