For many women, the worst thing you can do for your career is to get pregnant. From personal experience, having a baby can transform you from an equal competitor to your male peers into a slight inconvenience, and even financial drain on a company.
Suddenly your employer needs to make allowances for hospital visits, rearrange departments around maternity leave, and then ease a (possibly slightly emotional) new mum back into their old role, with the worry over whether you'll still be able to work the same antisocial hours needed to get the work done.
Ask for flexible work
But for many more women, having a baby opens up an exciting new working world. Freed from the defined parameters of a cookie cutter career, they are forced to look at their ambitions and talents differently. If they love their work but are no longer prepared (or able) to put in the long hours, they can legally ask for a more flexible work arrangement - enabling them to fit their career needs around their responsibilities as a mum.
Of course, employers aren't obliged to simply accept your working request, but they do need to provide a business case for why it's not possible.
Become a freelancer or consultant
If flexible working isn't an option, or isn't your preferred option, you can follow the successful trail blazed by lots of working mums and use your skills and experience to launch a thriving freelance or consultancy career instead. If you're good at what you do, you can offer your services to companies or individuals on an ad-hoc or contract basis, working when it suits you and your family.
If you work hard at building a great network of clients, you may even find that you can earn as much as you used to take home as a permanent employee, but only work part time.
Start your own business
If the thought of freelance or consultancy work leaves you cold, or just isn't an option, you may instead be inspired to start your own business. These days you can't open a national paper or magazine without coming across the term 'mumpreneurs' - and for good reason. Many entrepreneurial mums are making good use of their time at home and spotting gaps in the market for products or services they could offer.
Channelling their ambitions and valuable skills and experience into their own businesses allows mums to take control of their career and get paid for doing something they enjoy, on their own terms. You can decide how big you want your business to grow, and how much of your time you want, or can, devote to it. It's also a fantastic opportunity to stretch your brain and learn new skills, such as marketing and social media.
You don't need experience to start your own business - you'll learn along the way as you see what works and what doesn't. An accountant will help you handle the financial side of things if you need. The rest you can learn by researching online, seeking out the right books and by trial and error.
Just do it
Having a baby doesn't have to mean the end of your career. It could herald the start of an exciting and successful new phase of your working life. Whether you're toying with the idea of working flexibly, being a freelancer or starting a business, you'll find plenty of great online resources to inspire you and help you get started. The important thing is to just do it!
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