QI'm an accountant with a professional
services firm. I'm 28 years old and have been with them for about
four years. I really like working for them and have really enjoyed
myself. I just found out I am pregnant. This was not planned, but
we're really happy.
I'm the first one of my female friends to get pregnant and I
don't really feel they will be able to help me much. Also, I'm not
ready to discuss my pregnancy with anyone in the office yet.
I really want to continue work, but I am unsure if I should go
full time or part time. I would like to find out about my options
and how other women in my position go about things. Can you
help?
AThank you so much for your question.
Both Sarah and I have been there! Pregnant with our first child,
not really sure about what the options are, not wanting too many
people to know. Thank goodness for the internet...
Well, the short answer is that you have many options. But do
keep in mind the issues each one presents.
The full time option:
With their first child, many women choose to come back to work
full time after taking their maternity leave. It is very do-able
and ensures that your career continues on track.
Considerations:
- Child care! The single most important factor in ensuring your
peace of mind and your ability to perform is good child care.
Basically, the first decision you need to make is whether you want
at-home nanny care or centre-based care. Whatever you decide, you
need to do it now. Good nannies take time to find and most good,
full time child care centres have very long waiting lists.
- Your physical and mental health following delivery. This is not
something we like to talk about publicly, but some women suffer
complications following the birth of their first child. It is
important to be aware of how you are feeling and to make sure that
you don't put undue pressure on yourself by returning to work too
soon. Having said that, you can get ready by lining up your child
care options as long as you respond to how you feel at the
time.
- Impact on your child. It has been suggested by attachment
experts that the attachment of children may be negatively impacted
when mothers go back to work full time in the first year of life.
If this concerns you, we suggest you research the topic further. We
have identified some useful sites with respect to child care. These
are listed at the end of this article.
- The support you have or can have at home. This is different
from child care. It is much easier to go back to work full time if
your husband/mother/ sister/aunt is around to help you out when
your baby is sick and you have a really important meeting.
The part time option:
This option is the one many women go for. It gives them time to
be with their child but also keeps them in the workforce and their
skill-set current. Also, it can be so very nice to leave the
nappies behind, put on some nice, spew-free clothes and spend the
day in the company of adults!
Considerations:
- How good is your company at handling part-timers (of either
gender)? You can get an idea of this by noting how many part timers
there are and how they are treated. Is the corporate culture to
respect them, or to regard them as uncommitted nuisances? Chat to
some of them and see for yourself.
- Your career prospects. Again, this is something that might not
be acknowledged publicly. But, in many organisations, the minute
you go part time your career progress slows drastically. What has
happened to other people in your organisation who have pursued this
route?
- Financial remuneration. Many women who opt for working part
time find that they actually end up doing a lot more work than what
they are paid for. It is very hard to stop work seeping into the
off days. One way to limit this is to work a few hours every day
rather than 2-3 days a week. This is a less common arrangement, but
if your commute is short, it could be worth thinking about.
Contracting
Both of us here at Professionelle have eventually reached this
option. Contracting means that you work when there is work and
spend time with your children when you're not busy. It is quite a
feasible option if you are a professional service provider or if
you have a unique skill-set, but it does require you to be flexible
enough to drop everything when the workload arrives.
Considerations:
- Flexible child care is essential to deal with the
unpredictability of contracting. One option is to organise ongoing
part time child care and let your clients know what days you're
available for work. Another is full time childcare with a flexibly
minded nanny...someone who will do some housework and other useful
jobs when you want to be with your children.
- Financial security. Contracting work can be unreliable. If your
income is a major part of your household total income, it can feel
somewhat unsafe.
- Unpredictability of work. Unless you have an ongoing long term
contract that specifies an overall number of hours, the work flow
can be very unreliable. This makes it hard when it comes to long
term planning like organising holidays, after-hours sports and
social events. In addition, it can impact your confidence if you go
through a slack period when there isn't a lot of work.
- Loneliness and isolation. When you work in an office
environment with colleagues, you always have someone to bounce
ideas off and discuss issues with. Some contractors who are more
home-based can feel lonely and isolated without this sort of
interaction. (But you can always write to us!)
Full-time flexi
If this option is available to you, it is well worth thinking
about. Unfortunately, we don't know anyone who has made this work
in the large firms, although we have had certainly read about and
heard of it in much smaller ones.
We believe that the key consideration with flexi time is
ensuring that you don't end up working all the time but take time
off when you can.
The Career Break
Even though you said you want to keep working, we're including
this option for completeness. Stopping work for longer than
statutory maternity leave can be considered a career break. You may
find yourself in this position if health issues prevent you
returning to work as planned. Equally, you may find after the birth
that you are not as willing to relinquish care of your child as
you'd expected to be!
The literature from overseas does suggest that women returning
from a break find it hard to re-engage with their careers at the
same level and pay that they left them. They also rarely return to
the same company. Employers are beginning to notice that this is a
waste of valuable skills, not to mention a source of high
recruiting costs, and some are actively addressing it. Perhaps
yours is one. Do you know of any women who have returned from a
career break, and who are happy with the trade-offs they've
made?
Where Else to Look
General information:
If you want to check up on your rights as a pregnant
professional, a good place to start is the Department of Labour.
Its page on parental leave has a left-hand menu bar from which you
can select the situation most closely approximating your own e.g.
information for employees, or for fathers and partners. http://www.ers.dol.govt.nz/parentalleave/
Another website that offers a quick overview is Huggies, in its
"Pregnancy and Work" section: http://huggiesnz.co.nz/BecomingAParent/PregnancyAndWork
Information regarding child care
For a concise review of alternative child care options as well
as the benefits and draw backs of each option check out: http://www.answers.com/topic/day-care
Your Stories
We would love your input. We believe this is one of the most
difficult decisions women make in their working lives. Please send
us your stories and your thoughts on the subject.
© Professionelle Ltd 2007