How do you keep maternity leave from impacting your career or, more immediately, making it difficult for you to readjust to your workplace directly after you return? The answer will depend on your profession, your organisation, and how much help you have at home, but there is some general guidance that could help you at both the maternity planning and post-maternity return stages.

Know your rights and responsibilities as an employee.

Pregnant women have different workplace protections in different countries, and individual employers may offer extra support beyond what’s legally required. If you’ve followed Dr. Shree Datta’s advice from Unii’s Preconception Journey, you will have researched what’s available to you before getting pregnant and planned accordingly. If you haven’t yet, it’s worth working out your rights. ACAS, the UK’s Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service, is considered the gold standard in employment rights advice by HR professionals and provides advice on everything from the role to which you're entitled to keep to requesting more flexibility from your employer with your hours and date of return.

Look for maternity mentors in the office.

Unless you are a pioneer in a heavily male-dominated industry, you probably know some other women in your company or profession who have children. It is a very good idea to have a cup of tea with them after you learn you are pregnant. They may be able to advise you on how to cope with the return to work emotionally, manage your time so you can get your work done before you need to be out the door, and how best to communicate problems to senior management. Even if you don’t like everything you hear, fortune favours the prepared. Make sure you store a wealth of information to pass on to younger colleagues, including anything that falls under the heading “Why did nobody tell me this before?” We all benefit from parents who support one another at work, as does your organisation as a whole.

Plan and practice your childcare arrangements in advance of your return to work.

Childcare is not only expensive for many parents—it’s also extremely emotive. If you are lucky enough to have an office creche or family who live close to you and can take care of your baby when you return to work, you will be spared the anxiety of choosing someone to pay to take care of them. There are pros and cons to every paid choice—if you choose nursery care, there’s the lack of one-to-one attention to consider. A nanny will provide that but is likely to cost a lot more and won’t deal with the housework. Childminders might tidy up a bit, but will they give your baby the same level of care? Then there’s the more fundamental adjustment to simply trusting a non-family member with your baby. All of this will require research and significant time, financial, and emotional investment. It is well worth sorting it out before your maternity leave ends and perhaps having a few practice days to improve your child’s comfort level with the separation as well as your own.

Plan for who is going to do what at home where housework and childcare are concerned.

Office of National Statistics research says that women in the UK tend to take on the bulk of the childcare and housework even when they are employed outside the home. To keep this from happening to you—and seeding resentment between you and your partner—make an explicit plan for who will take care of what and when after your maternity leave. Finding the money for a cleaner, if you can, could make this plan much simpler.

Master your breast pumping regimen.

Unii’s experts tend to advocate breastfeeding, and evidence-based advice on the benefits and how to get it right can be found on Unii’s Baby Feeding Journey video course with Ms. Wendy Lever. However, pumping away from home is a commitment you will need to master if you’re considering breastfeeding post-maternity leave. You should also be able to breastfeed at work if the opportunity or need arises. In the UK, your employer is legally required to provide a place for you to breastfeed comfortably.

Use your Keep In Touch days.

In the UK, you are allowed to work up to ten days during your maternity leave. These are called Keep in Touch days. They are optional for both you and your employer, but as it’s possible to fall quite far behind your colleagues in certain roles, it can be a good idea to take them if they are offered. Pay and the work undertaken need to be agreed before these days happen, according to the government’s website.

Expect to respond emotionally.

This may include tears and moments of guilt and worry at being away from your baby. Some people don’t handle a change in routine well. Postpartum depression can develop up to a year after birth, and it’s important to be mindful of your general wellbeing. You can’t be at your best in the office or at home without taking care of yourself first.

Do a personal skills audit.

New parents come back to work with a brand-new set of skills that can help them work more effectively. It’s true that parental leave means skipping training days, meetings, and other learning opportunities you’ll now have to catch up on, but you’ve also returned from a life-changing experience that’s demanded more from you in an average day than any time spent in the office. Be kind to yourself and remember how capable you are. You’ve literally created and sustained life.

What does a successful return look and feel like to you?

The clearer the picture of the best that could happen is in your mind, the easier it will be to achieve. You may have a lovely boss who is keen to go easy on you when you get back, but it’s still important to be clear on targets, training, and what they can expect from you. A ‘feeling’ you’d like to maintain could be calm, confidence, or pure enthusiasm.

Why are you returning to work?

One top tip for when things get tough is to have a list of the reasons why you are returning to work. Anything that feels true to your beliefs works, from setting a great example for your kids to boosting the family’s income or simply loving your job. When you’re having a bad day, the “whys” will help you get back on track.

What will the first six months look like?

There are many useful books and articles on combining parenthood and work, but until you have all the individual pieces of your personal puzzle (and your baby!) in front of you, it’s hard to make an effective plan. Dedicating yourself to your child while fulfilling your professional obligations as best you can is only possible if you and your partner work together as a team. Making a three-to-six-month plan that includes your baby’s schedule, your work schedules, and time for self-care or any special occasions may sound ambitious, but the time will pass more quickly than you expect—ask any parent with a toddler.

For more advice on how to adjust to life after birth, check out Unii’s Giving Birth Journey with Dr. Keith Duncan.

For more advice on taking care of yourself in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, check out Unii’s Antenatal Classes, with prenatal video episodes taught by senior NHS midwives, an award-winning obstetrician and gynaecologist, and six other leading healthcare experts. Only at unii.com.

How can I smooth my transition back to work after maternity leave?