It wasn’t what you’d expect…

Making the decision to go back to work after I had my baby wasn’t an easy one. In fact, in a lot of ways it wasn’t really a decision. Once my maternity leave was up I needed to go back to work for financial reasons and like a lot of mums, I struggled a lot with the idea of leaving my little one behind.

For a year it had been just the two of us during the day. I took a while to adapt to my new role but slowly we fell into a rhythm and spent our days exploring and learning. I was all too aware of the timeframe we had together so I tried to make the most of it. I was lucky to be able to take that amount of time off to be with my child because I know that’s not the case for a lot of women – but still, time seemed to fly by.

Before I went back to work I looked into a thousand day care options and put my son’s name down at any that looked decent. I’d heard that day care could be hard to secure so I was thrilled when my mum offered to look after my son until a position became available. By the time he started formal day care, both he and I were better able to manage the separation and I felt comfortable with the staff and the loving, friendly atmosphere that he was in.

“Before I went back to work I looked into a thousand day care options and put my son’s name down at any that looked decent. I’d heard that day care could be hard to secure so I was thrilled when my mum offered to look after my son until a position became available.”

What I didn’t expect to be as hard though was my transition back into work. I had been with my employer for over six years. I was established and had a lot of friends but yet, when I returned from maternity leave, it felt like a lot had changed and that I had been left behind.

Friends that used to work in similar roles to mine had progressed with their career and there were new people I didn’t know everywhere.

I felt stuck in many ways. I was in no position to ask for a promotion, having been off for such a long period of time, but it was hard seeing others get promotions that I perhaps would have got had I not left to have a baby.

I’ve always been a focused person so I took matters into my own hands and decided to upskill myself by going back to study. A lot of people had doubts. Full time work, motherhood and then additional study…but I had a look around, and it turns out that my only option wasn’t a classroom waaay after dark.

“What I didn’t expect to be as hard though was my transition back into work.”

Yep – I enrolled in online study. A friend recommended it to me after she completed some further study stuff of her own, and as a mother of three, I figured if she could do it, I could too.

At first, I needed to make sure I was organised, but once I got into a rhythm of studying when I could and allocating time to focus on things other than work and baby, it just became another part of life. As a busy mum, being able to fit study in whenever I found an odd spare hour here and there (hello, nap time) was a lifesaver. It helped that I had a supportive partner – but even if I didn’t, many colleges offer support for students who are also parents, and let me tell you – that’s a huge relief.

I’d like to think my study is assisting me with job prospects in the future which may not be available to me otherwise. I also love the idea that I can continue my studies should we have another baby and still maintain a path to something else at the end.

I always wanted to be a mother, but I also wanted to be a successful working woman. Now, I’m confident I can be both.

Did you have a hard time returning to work after having a baby?

Want more? Try these:

“I went back to work 6 days after my baby was born.”

“I wanted more than motherhood and a boring job.”