How To Prepare For Maternity Leave

How To Prepare For Maternity Leave

By:


You're pregnant! Congratulations! Whether you're feeling excited, apprehensive or a mixture of the two, there's no doubt that you're preparing for one of the most momentous events of your life.

Suddenly, reality strikes and you start to worry about what the implications are for your career and what your boss and your colleagues might think?

It may be common to go through a process of doubt, wondering whether your work colleagues will be supportive, whether they will dwell on all the potential negatives and not be as happy as you are about your impending arrival.

When you know that you are going to be taking an extended period of time away from work in this situation, you must pause to consider all the repercussions. It is important to make everyone aware of what is going to happen, of course, but you want to be sure that you have dotted all your "i's" and crossed all your "t's" as well. You have much to consider and it can seem daunting - You could check out online coaching programmes from coaches who specialise in maternity and return to work coaching for women. There are many things to think about and you might want to get clear on these by seeking out professional coaching.

For example, you need to work out your timeline and understand how that may affect your existing job and how it may affect or impact your colleagues. While most will likely be overjoyed for you, there may be a couple of questions in the back of their minds regarding your loyalty or your commitment to the work operation. You should seek to allay those fears as early as possible by devising a plan of attack.

The first thing to think about, even though you can change this, is to plan when you will start your maternity leave and when you might want to return to work. Obviously, your baby may have other ideas and you should lay out the flexibility of the situation as best as possible. When you find out who will be covering for you, you will need to spend more time with them, of course. Do this as early as possible as you just never know exactly when the stork will arrive!

Try to allay your colleagues' potential fears about your commitment now rather than when you return. Whilst you are establishing boundaries and standards, ensure that you don't offer an open invitation to contact you at any time with work problems whilst you are on maternity leave. By all means, keep in touch, but set limits as well for your own sanity! It goes without saying that you and your baby remain the first priority.

Whilst you are euphoric, the world is still turning at your workplace. Preparing now will help pave the way for a smooth transition back to work after your maternity leave.


About the Author:
Amanda Alexander is the Founder and Inspiration behind Coaching Mums. She's a distinguished ICF accredited coach, who for almost seven years now, has been bringing a new feeling of hope into the lives of working moms from around the world, showing them how to discard their guilt, rediscover their passions, and to have a lot more fun! For amazing articles and truly effective coaching tips, sign up to get "Inspire", our absolutely outstanding free newsletter at=> http://www.coachingmums.com



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


|

Loading...
Related....
Videos...

Recent Home-and-Family Articles

Comments

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Loading

Copyright 2005-2011 ArticleSnatch, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.