Any Sr Exec Moms work during maternity leave?

M

merrymum

Registered User
Any moms holding senior executive positions in a global role for a MNC work during your maternity leave?

How did you cope? Did you still check your emails periodically? Touch base with your teams and global offices regularly? Occasionally?

Or were you able to really shut down, stay away from work and not get drawn in?

I start my maternity leave next week and I plan to go back to work right after so wish to stay connected but feel I should also shut down completely and focus on the little one.

If you are/were in a similar position, I'd love to hear from you, thanks!
 
Hi Merrymum - I'm in the same position and have had two maternity leaves - how you manage the time away is a very individual thing.

Basically, I did work throughout both times - a lot at the beginning, but towards the end I managed to mentally pull back.

It was much easier to keep in touch with the local team , the global side suffered as evening conf. calls were tricky to schedule and I wasn't as 'in touch' with what was happening in their day to day.

I had 7 months off with both children so things may also depend on the amount of time you are taking.

Happy to PM you more details as I struggled with this a fair bit and got to a good place eventually!
 
Just to add, I continued to use my work email as my main account so responded to all messages. Email traffic slowly reduced in volume as people got the message I was out on leave, but all I can say is thank goodness for blackberries!
 
I don't have a global role, but a regional one, so no issues with regular evening calls, except for a few with New York occasionally. I started my leave 2 weeks before my EDD and during that period, I was practically working from home (hard to keep away cos still very much in work mode). Once the baby arrived, I got really busy coping with a new born I basically only managed to check my blackberry twice a day. I also put my phone on silent. Like LeahH, email traffic slows down and my colleagues are very good in respecting my maternity leave. I do worry a little about what I'm missing career wise, but figure that I can get back on the swings of things once I go back to work, and my baby deserves my full attention. Family over Work any time :)

So far, I have been able to completely pull back from work. I made sure that I have met my budget before going on leave so that helps a little, and also I don't think we're gonna get paid (bonus wise) this year. So better time spent with my baby :)
 
Hi Leah & Obiwan,

Thanks for sharing and I am happy to hear that there ARE moms out there staying in touch with work as most moms I've spoken to thus far have all been able to pull away and I was starting to feel quite alone and guilty for planning to.

Although I'm sure that I will be selective in responding to certain emails and only planning to check my emails at most once every few days and anything urgent to have my asst call my home. Nonetheless, I'm sure I will get so busy with the little one that I"ll also trail off a bit more as time passes.

I'm only off for 3.5mos so don't want to miss too much either. I'm officially on mat leave now but am still in full work mode, let's see in 2 weeks (after baby arrives) what state I'm in?! =)

Thanks again both!
 
It must be very exciting awaiting the arrival of the little bub. Congratulation!! I'm pretty sure you won't be thinking about work once he/she arrives :)

I find that the more I respond to work, the more they will come to me. When they realise that my hands are full, they will just have to do it without me. I am off 4.5 months, and will be back to the office 4 Jan.
 
I am more interested in knowing how people cope with going back to work and leaving your little one with someone else? I personally didn't cope well, so I had to quit my job few months ago. Miss job crazily but at the same time want to spend more time with the baby. How can I cope if I go back to work?
 
You are right gladyswly. I have quite a few friends who decide to go on sabbatical/quit after being unable to adjust back to work after maternity leave. What I am doing is to slowly let my helper care for the baby when I'm still on leave, and I've moved apartment to be within walking distance to work. I have also installed a webcam so I can see the baby when I'm at work. I guess we'll have to see when I'm back to work :)

I was told by friends who decide to be full-time mom that the best time to do it is after the baby is 1 year old.
 
Going back was tough for the first few months the first time, I was very lucky in securing one day from home and also took a couple of hours on one morning to go to a baby class. I wasn't asking to work less, just differently, taking into account the amount of work I do in the evening due to time zones etc.

With number two I am still direct feeding morning and night so have implemented a black out zone 6-8pm. I often don't take much of a lunch hour and leave at 5.45pm. Its no calls during this time unless it's a massive emergency but after 8pm it's open season... It's odd leaving at 5.45pm every night as I'm used to working late, but the BF has made me very strict.

I know it will be hard for the next few months but if it goes the same way as number 1 did, I will settle into a routine eventually. I do pack it in on the weekends, everything is based around the kids so any 'me time' gets slotted in during the week at lunchtimes.

I'm lucky I have two amazing helpers so feel totally confident leaving the kids with them. Like Obiwan I'm pretty close to work, under 15 mins by cab, so can be home very quickly.
 
Whilst on maternity leave I checked emails daily, but replied only to the most essential ones that other colleagues could not deal with. I was selective about the conference calls that i joined.

Going back to work for me was really tough. I had to resume work at 10 weeks post natal, as I had no negotiating power - I started a new job in my 3rd trimester! Furthermore my company is a manufacturer, very bricks and mortar and expected long hours to be put in with no flexi arrangements. I was in tears going back to work the first few days as my baby was tiny. The first month was really hard, just getting back into the swing of work and pumping milk twice a day in the office, then zipping off home at 6pm for yet another feed, and breastfeeding exclusively including night feeds. I was really short of sleep the first couple of months. But it did get easier. By the 3rd month i started to feel that I was getting on top of things. During busy phases I would have to do calls to New York in the evenings and calls to California in the morning, as far as possible from home rather than in the office. A lot of multi tasking and making sure my domestic helper had clear instructions and the household routine, meals, all planned properly. I am also lucky that my helper has been excellent, and hubby works from home. Today baby is 8 months old and thriving. I think to myself that it has been possible to meet her physical needs. I still don't know the answers to meeting her emotional and developnmental needs for the time to come. However I am happy to see that she is close to me because I chose to breastfeed and (with hubby) care for her during the night rather than pass the job to the helper. We are not from HK so we do not have family members here to help out, only our helper. I do feel envious of the mums who have been able to work part time or have flexi arrangements. It is good to know that there are mums out there who are workign full time in demanding jobs, facing the same concerns/dilemmas.
 
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