How were your workplace with you before you went on maternity leave?

[ikower]

Were you treated any differently, did you feel like an inconvenience/ was it the exact same as it had always been?

Inconvenience first time
Treat no different the second time

Same work place/team but different managers.

It’s sad how it can be so different. I’m feeling like I am getting under people’s feet now. Not long till mat leave

First time treated as normal but to my detriment as i couldn’t keep up the pace and ended up exhausting myself. Second time I asked for what I needed and they were more than willing to give me what I needed so it was a learning curve.

Supportive, encouraging and accommodating. I only felt like a spare part on my last day because they were all at an event and I didn’t go because there was no point & my mat cover went instead. And I chose to stop
on that day so I created it feeling a bit weird, I should’ve finished the day before.

But other than that it was business as usual up to the end and when I went back it was brilliant (even though it was height of pandemic).

No complaints here.

They treated me like maternity leave was me skiving off work!

Tbf, they didn’t get any maternity cover for me so my work was shared out amongst them, but that wasn’t my decision or fault!

No difference, but I was doing my job exactly as usual, so no adjustments necessary — and I told no one other than my line manager till 19 weeks.

The first time they gave me less and less to do over a period of a few weeks, to the point where I felt like a spare part and totally invisible!

This time I've also largely been ignored. I've had the same workload, but if new work comes in I'm not being given it, just because our contracts are usually 6 months plus long and there's no point in me building a relationship with the client only to bounce after 6 weeks. I work in PR and am 32 weeks pregnant. Mat leave starts in 3 weeks.

My workplace is quite cut-throat, full of child free young women and very focused on making as much money as possible. I feel like they're in denial that I'm even pregnant 😂 Being ignored suits me though, much preferable to their usual micromanagement style.

I had to tell my line manager very early, around 8 weeks as I didn't manage my normal commute anymore, I had to explain why I was there one hour earlier than everyone else. My blood pressure was so down, DH had to come with me to make sure I had a seat.

When I was in the 3rd trimester, I struggled again with blood pressure so they allowed 2 days at home and 3 in the office 10-5 instead of 9-5.

It helped that my line manager just had baby no 2 and most days came in looking like a zombie.