Maternity is the most celebrated status a women earns after her marriage or at a point in a live in relationship. It is an occasion that brings pleasure to her as well as her male partner. There are certain necessary alterations in her lifestyle, certain regulations she has to follow and certain precautions that she must observe, which are for the well being of her as well as the fetus growing inside her womb.
But today’s women do have a steady professional career too. They have equal responsibilities as that of men which involve meeting deadlines, attending meetings, running after clients and other allied professional commitments, which they can never ignore. Therefore, it becomes extremely difficult to manage career and the responsibilities of motherhood simultaneously. The most difficult phase is when it becomes necessary for the expected mothers to ask for a maternity leave after the child delivery.
Life becomes really challenging in trying to juggle between professional commitments and needs of the newborn baby. The colleagues can look at with scorn, the boss can be angry thinking that you are going to be unprofessional henceforth and there can be other such disappointing situations. But there are ways by which you can plan a maternity leave which will not project your insincerity towards professional front as well as not be exhibition of carelessness towards the obvious needs of the family.
Here are a few tips on planning for maternity leave:
1. Fix a date closer to your delivery
Since the maternity date is going to be really long, approximately of about three months, so you need to be calculative while planning for the leave from the office. Your career is also important and you need to realize that staying out of touch from office for such a long is a bit difficult for your career too. Therefore, try to give as much time as possible to your personal front before going for a maternity leave. Do not take an advance leave. Rather, ask for leave just a week or two before your delivery if your health permits.
2. Prepare a suitable assistance in your absence
It will be helpful for your office associates and you too if you can arrange a suitable representative to take over your responsibilities on a temporary basis, while you are away on maternity leave. Since you occupy a valuable position in your professional front, therefore your long absence will disturb the working of your office to a great extent. You might have a subordinate or a co-worker in your office who is responsible and sincere enough to be assigned your duties. Make the person understand the nature of your job, the future planning and duties that need to be implemented and other necessary things that might be asked for when you are absent.
3. Decide on the level of accessibility you will maintain
This is a factor that is totally dependent upon you. While you enjoy motherhood, make a prior planning on how much accessibility you will allow to your office. In this circumstance, it is also very important to realize that making yourself available in the same manner as things were before your motherhood will shift your attention from your newborn baby. But cutting off totally from the office for such a long period might arouse difficulties at your professional sphere. The best practice is to balance the situation along with the professional and personal demands of your life.
4. Convey every action you take in writing
You must be practical enough to understand that this is a professional world and you may face any odd circumstance any time. Thus, be wise enough to make a written document about the leave you are supposed to take, its duration, reason, the person you have assigned on your behalf, the jobs that you have made him or her undertake in your absence, etc. Keep a copy of everything with yourself and the other with your office. These documents will come to your aid in troublesome situations.
