New Mom's. . . Stay at work!

Hi Jennifer and all friends from around the world. (I read Julie's post and I thought this was a good time to finish this assignment.)

In my recent Facebook conversations with Jennifer LaMore, I informed her that one of my best friends just had a baby. Jennifer then asked me how this affected her career as a rising young corporate executive. That was a great question so I took it upon myself to look into this matter, not just for my friend, but for most women who work in these economically trying days.

How do women today handle their career and motherhood?

What I found was surprising information about how women feel about their "once in a lifetime" opportunity to advance in the office and that a baby wasn't going to stand in the way. My friend told me the exact same thing. She was going to bring the baby to work with her if she had to but the baby wasn't going to stop her from doing her job. She also said that no one in her company takes three months off. At the most - three weeks!

I discovered from the eleven new moms I spoke with that the days of taking three months off for maternity leave have gone by the way side. Just recently a French Justice Minister gave birth on a Friday and attended a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Sarah Palin took five days off from her Governor duties to give birth to her fifth child. And, if you own your own business, taking time off is not an option.

I spoke with one woman who believed that she was in a mans work world and would not have them look differently at her for taking time off to have a baby. (I thought that kind of thinking was gone forever. I guess not.) She was newly employed at a corporate job and she worked right up until going into labor and was back to work four days later. The boss thought her devotion to her job and loyalty was so impressive that she got promoted. She's now a division manager and has been promoted a second time since having her baby. She indicated that she is very good at her job and nothing, not even a baby, was going to stand in her way. Her vision was ". . . I need to provide for my daughter down the road. I need to advance in my career to give her what she needs. Kids are far better off with well adjusted mothers . . . ," Hmm! Who can argue with that.

Some women, however, suffer the downside of going back to work to early. The postpartum weeks after birth are very important for bonding and if you miss those days you can suffer depression, insomnia, and physical and emotional distress for a long time. One woman indicated that she spent three months with her new born daughter and only three weeks with her second child, a son. She said that the daughter is far more dependant then her son.

I found the women I spoke to very interesting and open about how they view the world and maternity leave. They also said that each person was different in how they felt about motherhood but they all believed that no one is going to tell them what to do.

Clare London, England