Thinking about non-traditional maternity leaves
Posted July 10th, 2009 by Morra Aarons-MeleA recent Good Morning America story reflected something I’m hearing more of from friends: now doesn’t feel like a safe time to take a full maternity leave. As Ellen Galinsky notes in the piece “The issue for women these days is that they are increasingly important financial supporters of the family,” unemployment rates and pay cuts increase monthly, and that leads to great stress, and fear of taking leave. So much so that ABC News called reduced maternity leave “the new normal.” For most of us, this idea is just shy of heartbreaking.
A recent conversation I had got me thinking, though, that maybe the classic three or four month maternity leave isn’t for everyone- no matter what the financial circumstances are.
My friend Lisa Witter is Chief Operating Officer of Fenton Communications, a leading progressive communications and branding firm. Lisa is also the author of The SheSpot, which is the book on why women are key to achieving social change.
Lisa has two little boys, one just turned two, and one is three months old. She told me recently of her novel approach to maternity leave and flexible working. Lisa brings insight about what works for her as a mom, but also what works for her business as COO. Here’s what she did for her second leave:
“I found taking three and a half months off was isolating and didn’t work for me the first time.
“With the second baby, I took 6 weeks formal leave, during which I checked in on email and sat in on conference calls. My parents and in-laws stayed with us during that time.
“After six weeks, I worked five days in the office- I don’t have to, I choose to. I work better at the office. I’d bring the baby in whenever I felt like it. My older son would stay with the nanny, sometimes I’d meet them both in the park and she would take the baby home with her and I would go back to the office.
“Now, I’m taking two weeks in August off, and all of December. At first I felt guilt about not taking a longer leave but I thought, ‘If I’m not happy my child isn’t happy.’
“This arrangement is a really good option for an employer too, if you can work out where your slower times are. It works better for me in my business because August tends to be slower, as does December.”
For me, I’m self-employed and need to engage in both business development and client services. A long maternity leave was out of the question, but I structure my life at work to fit my parenting needs by working a flexible schedule year round. I took about two months and then started to jump in slowly to work.
What other non-traditional—but satisfying— maternity leaves have you seen?
7 Comments
October 11, 2011 at 9:59 am by Elanor GillettThis is really interesting, You are an overly professional blogger. I have joined your feed and look ahead to searching for extra of your great post. Additionally, I’ve shared your site in my social networks!
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August 8, 2009 at 12:06 am by Ted GreinerMy sons were born in Sweden and their mother and I shared one year of parental leave paid at 80% of salary for each of them (and another 6 mo at nominal pay), which one is allowed to take in increments of 1 up to 8 hours per day and until they reach 8 years of age. One is also given 60 days of paid leave per year and child to be home with them when they are sick. This is paid for by percentage of pay contributions from all employees in the country. Nowadays each parent has to take at least two months to obtain the whole amount available. While this now supports breastfeeding (98% of Swedish children are breastfed), it did not increase breastfeeding at the time when relevant laws were passed; social change was responsible for the increase that occurred from the mid 1970s when only a small percentage were breastfed.
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August 1, 2009 at 5:14 am by roberti found taking three and a half months off was isolating and didn’t work for me the first time. With the second baby, I took 6 weeks formal leave, during which I checked in on email and sat in on conference calls. 1Y0-264 braindumps My parents and in-laws stayed with us during that time. After six weeks, I worked 5 days in the office- I don’t have to, I choose to. I work better at the office. I’d bring the baby in whenever I felt like it. My older son would stay with the nanny, sometimes I’d meet them both in the park and she would take the baby home with her and I would go back to the office. Now, I’m taking 2 weeks in August off, HP0-A01 braindumps and all of December. At first I felt guilt about not taking a longer leave but I though, ‘If I’m not happy my child isn’t happy.’
This arrangement is a really good option for an employer too, if you can work out where you’re slower times are. It works better for me in my business because August tends to be slower, as does December.” For me, I’m self-employed and need to engage in both business development and client services. For me, a long maternity leave was out of the question, but I structure my life at work to fit my parenting needs by working a flexible schedule year round. 650-393 braindumps I took about two months and then started to jump in slowly to work.
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July 14, 2009 at 12:54 pm by Annie @ PhD in ParentingWith my son, I took 3 months off and my husband took the remaining 9 months. With our daughter we split it 6 months each. We are in Canada.
What I almost wish I could have done is to go back to work during the first 6 months and take my baby with me (she just slept and nursed all day) and then take time off during her second year when she was more active.
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July 13, 2009 at 10:25 pm by KristenI tried a no-traditional maternity leave; returning to work a few hours a week, with my infant, after one full week off to avoid professional isolation and create a more flexible leave period. After 4 weeks off I needed surgery to repair some damages from birth( 6 week recovery period). The day of my surgery my boss called me to offer an ultimatum of commiting at that moment to returning in 2 weeks or be terminated. I am now, four years later, after going to trial on a discrimination lawsuit against them and winning, wading through years worth of appeals and such.
Please don’t forego your maternity leave rights. They have not been won easily and they can easily be taken from us.
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July 11, 2009 at 12:35 am by bad mummyI live in Canada and was eligible to take a 12-month maternity leave. However it just wasn’t fiscally possible. I took five months off and spent about one day a week working, either at home or going into the office. This was very important for me, as I suffered from PPD and needed a chance to step back into a role where I wasn’t a set of boobs and a barely-functioning brain.
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July 10, 2009 at 4:54 pm by SuzanneAs a business owner, I just brought my five-week old second child into the office with me. It made more sense than bringing in the breast pump! And, as Lisa says, my first “real” maternity leave (three months off while working for someone else) was extremely isolating AND politically deadly. I was sad not to have more time at home with either baby, but that’s just the way it is.
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