Does a long maternity leave ruin your career???

It may seem like a bizarre question! In a very bold statement, one of the UK’s leading businesswomen, Lady Barbara Judge, has claimed long maternity breaks are bad for women and that those taking a year off work are at risk of losing their jobs. Having only took 12 days maternity  leave after the birth of her child, Lady Judge claims that women taking long maternity breaks are teaching their employers to “manage without them” and as such, are more at risk of being let go if redundancy situations arise on their return – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/07/lady-barbara-judge-long-maternity-leave-is-bad-for-mothers/

This is something I read with interest – particularly as someone who has just commenced a 12 month maternity leave break. I love my job, I really really do, but in my opinion, you simply cannot get these precious moments with your children back. The moments where you watch your child do everything for the first time – first smile, first food, first steps! I was lucky enough to have 12 months off after Erin was born, and the second time around, although it will be a strain on our family financially, I feel honoured and blessed to be able to spend this time at home with my newborn and watch her grow up with her big sister. I am aware that many women don’t have this luxury and have to go back to work sooner either for financial reasons or because they worry their career will suffer as a result.

In the US, women are offered just 12 weeks maternity leave. Having spent the first 3 weeks of Neve’s life in hospital, I cannot even imagine returning to work when she was 3 months old or less.

That said, I did struggle a little on my return to the workplace and not due to my employer. I suffered largely with a bit of a confidence crisis. I had been “out of the loop” for 12 months, and felt a little like I had lost my touch. I doubted whether I was making the right decisions and felt I had to check I was on the right lines more regularly than I normally would, rebuilding relationships that had perhaps gone a little stagnant during my absence. It was tough, and it took a while for me to build my confidence back up. Part of this struggle wasn’t helped by the fact I did no keeping in touch days due to breastfeeding, and the fact my little madam refused to take a bottle. This time around, I am hoping to be able to go to the office a few times during my break at least, and have my laptop at home with me. Whilst I will resist the temptation to ‘work’, I am checking my emails once a week to keep in the loop of what is going on – even simple things like new starters, leavers, new customers etc – it all helps me feel connected with what is occurring within my organisation.

There is of course a risk that my employer will learn to ‘manage without me’, but I’d like to think not! 🙂 Now that I have two children, being lucky enough to have a part time role that works around my family is not something to be sniffed at. I also want to make my children proud of Mummy and what she does for a living! 🙂

What do you think of Lady Judge’s claims? How long did you take off on maternity leave and why?