Bouncing Back After Baby
Are you expecting a child and wondering, as you squeeze in checkups and sonograms, how you are ever going to manage working while taking care of a baby? Or maybe you are home on maternity leave with a little one, your day filled with baby care, wondering how you will stretch your day to include full time employment as well? Or possibly you are mother to multiple children and have been out of the work force for a period of years, but are now trying to figure out what it will take to re-enter your chosen field?
In today’s economic climate, the decision to return to work after becoming a mom is not always an optional one. Many moms have spent years accumulating competitive advanced degrees and coveted work experience before embarking on starting a family. When they become mothers, these women want to find a way to get back to the career that they love, while still feeling like they are good moms to their babies. Especially in expensive urban areas, young families today need two incomes coming in the door in order to meet all the financial obligations, such as mortgage payments at higher interest rates and inflationary costs for everyday items, especially in desirable school districts.
During the years preceding motherhood, many women had a single-minded devotion to work. Along the way, they met their life partners and dreamt of starting a family. Taking concrete steps toward this latter goal may have been delayed in order to achieve particular steps on the corporate ladder or promotion to higher level management. Conceiving a child may have been an arduous journey fraught with failed infertility treatments and miscarriages. Finally, the moment arrives. A pregnancy progresses into the second and third trimester successfully. A child is born, shifting priorities in unexpected ways. Siblings may come along later, further sidelining a career that had initially managed to stay on course.
Once a child arrives on the scene, the complexity of blending work and family becomes more real. There is more pressure than ever to become a competent multi-tasker. Often there is a shift in perspective towards other women who have gone before on this working mother track and who may have previously been viewed as less invested or committed to career goals. Instead, these other women are now seen as models for what to do – and what not to do – when attempting to balance work and family.
Connecting with other women who are adjusting to motherhood and looking to transition back into the workforce can be invaluable. Women can gather strength from others who are facing similar challenges and provide support to one another on this pathway. A “village” of like-minded mothers who work outside the home can be a valuable resource when there are difficult problems or questions when re-entering the work force. Sometimes there is someone right around the corner who has already met the challenge you are facing and who is willing to share what they learned on this journey.
A step-by-step back to work plan can provide the basis for a more holistic approach to returning to work and successfully balancing work and family. Suddenly there is a framework for organizing and prioritizing each piece of a successful back to work plan. Some of the obvious items are lining up a reliable childcare provider, developing a back-up childcare plan in the event of emergencies or illness, and creating a work schedule that is compatible with these childcare arrangements. But there are other, less obvious parts to a successful back to work plan that involve “softer” skills. Some examples would be embracing a new work identity that integrates the new “mom” side of you, learning how to talk back to mom guilt, and formulating a reliable self care plan.
Finding the right balance between work and family can seem like a daunting task – and it should – because there really is no perfect solution. Ideally, in seeking to find this balance, there is an ongoing assessment that takes into consideration changing needs of the individual family members, expectations on the job front, as well as personal health and wellness. Sometimes the course originally selected with the initial return to work may need to be altered at a later time. Moms who participate in the Bouncing Back After Baby Therapy Group may find themselves returning to some of the concepts as they adapt and change with personal and family needs in the coming years.
Weekly meetings of the Bouncing Back After Baby therapy group provide an opportunity for mothers to exchange ideas while also benefiting from the support of other women who are committed to the same path. Breaking things down into manageable, bite-sized pieces by addressing one topic at a time, week by week, enables moms to feel empowered to meet personal goals, while staying fully present for their children. By gathering strength from a community of mothers like themselves, new moms who are returning to the workforce can move more confidently forward into the challenging days ahead.
Questions?
Will The Bouncing Back After Baby Group Meet In Person?
The Bouncing Back After Baby group meets virtually on a weekly basis over eight weeks. Meeting virtually enables new moms, who are dealing with the frequent feeding schedules of newborns, to participate more easily. The Bouncing Back After Baby group also has a Facebook Page where members can continue to share ideas and resources informally for weeks after formal meetings end.
What Will Be Discussed In This Group?
Video content that is pertinent to each weekly topic discussed in the Bouncing Back After Baby group sessions will be made available to group members. This video content is original and previously recorded by the group leader, Kathleen Nardella LICSW, LCSW-C. During each session, we will be focusing the discussion mainly upon the video content provided by that week in order to assure that each part of the step-by-step back to work plan is afforded time for discussion.
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