Mother Says 12 Weeks Of Maternity Leave Is Inadequate In Heart-Wrenching Post

Jan 29, 2022 by apost team

Having a newborn baby is always a tremendous amount of work, even if it isn’t your first child. It is also a time for intense bonding with your baby, so it can be devastating when maternity leave is over and you have to return to work. There is also the issue of being sleep deprived and often burnt out from taking care of the newborn around the clock. One mom turned to social media and shared her story about struggling to return to work after just 12 weeks of maternity leave. 

Rachael Larsen had eight weeks of paid leave with her first child. She said at the time she felt ready to go back to work because she needed a break from constant feedings and the crying baby. However, when Larsen had her second child, she began to feel a lot of guilt about leaving her infant after just 12 weeks together. She felt that she needed to be with her family, but because of their financial situation, she had no choice but to get back to working full time.

Larsen lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, and said that she knows it is considered a privilege to even have any paid time off in the U.S. However, she said that this should not be the case and mothers and fathers need more time with their children, especially when they are babies. Larsen knew she was not ready, but she went back to work anyway. 

Along with a picture, Larsen posted a message in 2020 sharing her story and calling for more paid maternity leave for parents. Keep reading to find out more about this story and to see how others reacted to it.

It took the mom four years to build up enough courage to post a selfie on LinkedIn that she took the day she went back to work after having her second child. In the photo, you can see tears in her eyes and she looks like she is holding back a flood of emotions. She wrote in her message:

“I wasn’t ready. My daughter wasn’t ready. She wasn’t sleeping and was extremely fussy. I woke up five times the night before to feed her. I was exhausted. As a majority income source for our family, I was forced to suck it up, put on a smile, and get back to work.”

The mom of two added, “I know that I am extremely privileged. I was able to have some partial pay during my maternity leave and I was able to take 12 weeks off. I had a job that I loved at an amazing company with great bosses. But… I was not ready.”

At the end of her post, Larsen called for things to change. “We need to do more to support parents and families. It may have taken me four years after I knew I’d never had another baby to share this photo. But, I’m glad that I have the courage to speak my truth now,” she shared.

Commenters were supportive of Larsen and commended her for being vulnerable and sharing her story. This prompted many others to share their own stories. One mom wrote, “I was ‘lucky’ to have 3 months of maternity leave with my last 2, but really, who are we kidding? At 3 months old, babies are just barely starting to learn to sleep through the night, which means a mother is returning to work sleep-deprived.” 

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Can you relate to this mom? How did you feel going back to work after maternity leave? Let us know, and feel free to pass this on to other parents you know who could use some encouragement.