5 Things That Change When You Go Back To Work As A New Mom

5 Things That Change When You Go Back To Work As A New Mom If youre a pregnant and planning on going back to work, you may be wondering what changes other moms go through when they return from maternity leave. You probably know you have to learn the ropes about diapers, feedings, and sleep schedules, but you may wonder how the rest of your identity and life will shift.To make matters worse, there tends to be a lot of hand-wringing about working moms who have work-life balance issues. Does that have to be your situation? If youve always been career-oriented and care a lot about your job, you may want to get a better picture about what changes and what doesnt after your baby arrives.While every woman and mother is different, heres my perspective on the 5 major things that change for ambitious women who return to work after their first babies.1. You will go through a period of adjustment.Im a mom of two and while each child and mother is different, I can assure you that youre bedrngnis alone if you have moments where you feel overwhelmed by the new experience. Its perfectly muster When you add something as big as a baby to your already-full life, you will naturally go through a period of adjustment.On the physical front, your body just went through something energy-draining and demanding, and if youre like most new moms whove given birth recently, you will feel tired and experience physical and hormonal changes.All of these changes mean that if youre returning to work soon after childbirth (or even weeks or months later), you will be navigating these things at the same time as the usual stresses of office politics, client deadlines and meeting project milestones.That said, this adjustment period is a finite one. Millions of moms have gone back to work and they are good moms who have ultimately figured out something that works for them, their jobs and their families. So rest assured that if things feel hard initially, they will get easier.2. You will have new feel ings of conflict.Mom guilt is real. Ive rarely heard from new parents that its easy to go back to work particularly on the first day. Sometimes this feeling persists and is more painful than you might expect. Its very normal and you should be kind to yourself during this period.Knowing that the intensity of these feelings typically subsides over time may leidlage make it any easier at the moment but pretending that it will not happen is not particularly helpful either. Find a support group at work perhaps its another colleague who you trust, take steps to maintain a connection via text check-ins with your daycare or babysitter, or even try to negotiate an adjustment period as you transition back to work.Ultimately, you will get better at managing your feelings as you get used to your new life and the multiple roles you play. You may be surprised but things evolve to the point that many women get to a place where they truly enjoy taking time away from their kids at work. That day m ay still feel far away, but we assure you that it may happen at some point3. You may be judged and treated differently at work.The best case scenarios are those where companies and employers provide a supportive environment. Typically this means not pre-judging you for being a mom in the form of giving you less challenging work, fewer promotion and job responsibilities or assuming you want a lighter schedule. If youre lucky enough to work for a company where many moms have successfully returned back to work, you will have role models all around you that can reassure you that it will all feel easier with each week and passing month.However, some of us may not be as fortunate. If you believe you can address the issue of bias and correct it with a conversation, you should try to discuss the problem with your manager or HR.However, sometimes, you simply have to go elsewhere in order to be appreciated the way you deserve. You may have to start looking for another job. Rest assured that t here are many companies women rate highly, where women feel satisfied with their work, and would recommend to others.4. You may feel you have to prove yourself even more.Because you may feel pre-judged or simply worry it will happen, many ambitious first-time moms try to deliver more and work even harder than before. Every situation is different, but remember that your overall reputation and good work will speak for itself and everyone is entitled to a bad day or a bad week().Just remember that there are many other issues that affect employee performance where nobody necessarily expects someone to make up for it (at least right away). Family illnesses, divorces or even messy break-ups can all temporarily affect employee performance.While its a personal decision and perfectly fine if you feel like you need to boost your work performance, dont kill yourself during an already stressful time. Be confident in what value you add and if you do want to demonstrate your commitment, be sure t hat its being noticed dont just put in extra hours and assume others will be paying attention to your sacrifice5. You will become more conscious of your time and time management.This is another cliche that tends to be true. You may think youre pretty productive already, but just wait until you become a mother Working moms are notoriously efficient when they realize they cant simply extend the day if theyre not finished with a project by the time they have to pick up children from daycare or relieve their nannies.Deadlines have a way of focusing our energy and time. If youre like a lot of other moms, you will surprise yourself by these newfound abilities. It doesnt necessarily have to be more stressful because you will also pick up new delegation, prioritization and time management skills.Youre not wrong to suspect that your worldview will change when you return to work as a new mom. However, its certainly far from all bad news Life wont be the same, but that doesnt mean everything has to be harder or stressful (for very long).