Guest blog by Corryn Brown
Ahead of tomorrow's SOM/CIPD parliamentary reception on 'Helping women thrive in work: making women's and reproductive health a key priority', this blog by Corryn Brown explores the experiences of new mothers in the workplace, drawing on the findings of her MSc research at Nottingham University.
New mothers encounter a variety of physical and psychological challenges. NHS England reports that 27% of new mothers experience perinatal mental health issues in the first 12 months after giving birth. These challenges can be compounded by the workplace, as mothers try to navigate the pressures to maintain a work-life balance, amid gender stereotypes, and negative perceptions of working mothers (Joshi, A et al., 2015).
When I returned to work after having my first baby, 11 years ago, I was taken aback by the lack of proactive support I received. I had been on maternity leave for seven months following a high-risk pregnancy, which included complications like pre-eclampsia and resulted in an emergency forceps delivery. The emotional and physical toll of this experience led to perinatal mental health issues such as post-natal PTSD. I also faced challenges with breastfeeding and suffered a bereavement just a couple of months before my return.
Upon my return, there was no welcome back, reinduction, or wellbeing check-in. As a manager, I was expected to pick up where I left off and hit the ground running. This was overwhelming, and my confidence had eroded. I felt like an imposter, which led to increased stress, anxiety, and ongoing mental health issues, which became compounded by the workplace and the lack of support and compassion.
A couple of years later, I became pregnant with my second baby but sadly miscarried at 12 weeks. Once again, no support was offered. My loss was ignored, and I was expected to continue working as if nothing had happened, despite the devastating grief I was feeling.
These experiences fuelled my passion to understand and improve the support for new mothers returning to work. I wanted to give them a voice and highlight the impact on their health and wellbeing and make a real-world difference with my recommendations. This became the focus of my MSc in Workplace Health and Wellbeing at Nottingham University.
I conducted mixed methods research with 33 participants, starting with a structured survey to gather demographic data and descriptive characteristics of participants. Additionally, I conducted semi-structured interviews to gain qualitative insights into their lived experiences and understand the workplace factors affecting their health and wellbeing upon returning to work. A thematic analysis revealed several key findings.
- 40% of respondents returned to work following maternity leave when they did, for financial reasons.
- 44% reported the workplace culture impacted their wellbeing on their return to work.
- 43% reported a lack of flexible working and job control adversely impacted their health and wellbeing.
- 37% reported inadequate breastfeeding awareness and support at work led to anxiety, stress and in some cases earlier breastfeeding cessation.
- 31% reported a lack of line manager support during maternity leave and upon returning to work, had impacted their health and wellbeing negatively.
- 15% reported intentions to leave the organisation following their re-onboarding experience.
- 25% reported they had had a period of absence in the first 12 months after returning to work, because of stress and anxiety because of lack of workplace support.
- 25% reported ongoing mental health issues following their return to work.
Despite assurances of anonymity and confidentiality, many women declined the opportunity to participate, fearing negative consequences from sharing their experiences, or in some cases, re-living the experiences were too distressing. This only highlighted the importance of giving new mothers a platform and improving our approach to re-onboarding them back into the workplace.
The research highlighted the vital role of workplace culture, flexible working arrangements, breastfeeding support, and the competence and support of line managers in the health and wellbeing of new mothers returning to work. It also identified a relationship between positive mental health and the ability to afford a longer maternity leave, enabling mothers to resume work when they felt ready rather than due to financial pressures. Furthermore, the study revealed that women who perceived their transition back to work negatively experienced higher levels of poor mental health, leading to absenteeism and intentions to leave the organisation.
Participants suggested several recommendations to improve workplace support for new mothers, including:
- Proactive Return-to-Work Process: Initiate the return-to-work process before the actual return, with pre-return meetings a couple of months in advance to plan and address any concerns.
- Accessible Information and Policies: Ensure easy access to relevant information and policies related to pregnancy, maternity, and returning to work.
- Line Manager Training: Equip line managers with the knowledge and skills to support new mothers effectively and direct them to appropriate resources when needed.
- Breastfeeding Support: Raise awareness and provide support for breastfeeding, ensuring new mothers can express milk at work safely and without fear of judgment.
- Colleague Support: Promote opportunities for colleague support through awareness-raising activities and staff network groups, helping colleagues understand the challenges new mothers face and providing networking opportunities for new parents.
- Parental Transition Coaching and Mentoring: Offer coaching and mentoring to support new mothers through the transition, boosting their confidence as they balance motherhood with their professional responsibilities.
- Improving and introducing family friendly working policies: Provide opportunities for job control through flexible and agile working arrangements. This support helps new mothers balance their work and home life, contributing to their overall health and wellbeing. Consider enhancing occupational maternity pay to allow new mothers to take a longer period off and return when they are ready.
Implementing these recommendations can enable organisations to make a meaningful impact on the lives of new mothers. By proactively promoting their health and wellbeing at work, by introducing organisational-level changes, companies can reduce mental health-related absences and retain valuable talent and empower new mothers to thrive at work.
Corryn Brown completed her MSc in Workplace Health and Wellbeing at Nottingham University.