When maternity leave ends, back to work doubts

When maternity leave is over: Dealing with your back to work doubts.

Ann Corwin Ph.D.
Bonnie Zucker Psy.D.
Foster Cline MD

on Wed Jan 6 2010, 6:03pm UTC | 2 comments

Several studies about working mothers came out in the UK during this past month. The first one claimed that children of working mothers "may be less likely to lead a healthy lifestyle." Less time with the kids (and less supervision) led to poorer nutrition and more sedentary behavior (hello tv), both factors leading to more obesity.

But today new statistics were released to assuage working mum guilt -- looks like there's actually little evidence that having a working mom (at least during infancy) harms a child's mental development or adversely affects its behavior. While these studies often support a mom's own decision, they're also likely to make her second guess her choices. So what's a mom to do? We say trust her gut at each stage and check in with the experts.

In this Parents Ask episode, our experts, Psychiatrist Dr. Foster Cline, Dr. Ann Corwin and Dr. Bonnie Zucker tackle a mom's first "back to work doutbs". They discuss the reasons some new mothers who plan to go back to work when their maternity leave ends have doubts about resuming their jobs and whether kids with working moms suffer in the long run.

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Related Topics: Planning a Family

Tags: Ann Corwin, Bonnie Zucker, Foster Cline, maternity leave, mothers going back to work, new study, returning to the workforce

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2 Comments

Commented by truuMOM, Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:33pm UTC

I actually didn't have any doubts when I first went back to work. Frankly, I couldn't wait to go to the office and be among adults. The doubts came up when my daughter was much older and then were much harder to reconcile. I felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of working when she was older (7) and eventually left the work force because of it!

I was lucky to be a stay at home mom for many years but ultimately decided to go back to work again - now with three kids. It's not easy - but knowing that my doubts and anxieties are normal and that I'm doing a good job at home and at the office (for now!) makes me feel better.

Commented by Christian Sanz, Fri Oct 16, 2009 2:56pm UTC

Great question, this is something my wife and I have discussed a few times. I'd like to add to this video by saying that going back to work whether is mom or dad is healthy not only for the child, but for the parents as well. This creates an opportunity for the parent to have a sense of purpose other than raising a child, and connect with society and possibly other parents who are working. For the child, like the video says, if you choose a daycare this creates play time and an opportunity to develop social interaction skills. This is also going bring more independence on both sides, which seems essential for when the child have the need to explore and learn new things without feeling guilty or afraid to leave the comfort and security of their parents care.