Returning from maternity leave? Why flexible working matters more now than ever

Your employer was brilliant when you were pregnant. Flexible with appointments, understanding when you were exhausted, letting you work from home in those final weeks when the commute felt impossible. They offered generous maternity pay. They probably sent flowers when the baby arrived. You felt looked after. You thought it was going to be okay.

And then you went back to work.

Suddenly, the flexibility that felt natural becomes a negotiation. The understanding disappears. You’re back at your desk, but your head is somewhere else entirely, in a nursery across town with a baby who seems to have a cold every week, because that’s what happens.

You’re commuting again, and it feels longer than you remember. You’re trying to remember who you were at work, while also figuring out who you are now. You’re leaving a small person who cries when you hand them over, and carrying that with you all day. Then the nursery calls. Temperature spike. You have to drop everything and go.

This is the part that actually needs flexibility.

Pregnancy had a timeline. An end point. This doesn’t. The early months of being a working parent are messy, emotional and unpredictable.

Some employers understand that. They see someone navigating all of that and still showing up, still delivering, still caring about their work, and they don’t make it harder.

Others don’t.

When support is pulled back at the exact moment it’s needed most, it sends a message. Maybe not intentionally, but clearly. The maternity pay, the flexibility, the flowers start to feel like gestures, not a commitment to support you through what comes next.

That contrast is hard to ignore. You saw how they handled your pregnancy and assumed that goodwill would continue. Instead, you’re being judged for being late because your child was upset at drop-off, or questioned because you need to leave early, again, to collect a poorly child.

All of this while you’re exhausted and adjusting to a completely new life.

Returning from maternity leave is one of the biggest transitions in your working life. You’re rebuilding confidence, managing guilt, learning new logistics, and trying to stay present at work when part of you is always somewhere else.

That’s a lot.

If something doesn’t feel right about how you’re being treated since you came back, it’s possible you’re not overthinking it, and you don’t have to work out what to do about it on your own. Sometimes, just talking it through with someone who understands both sides is enough to help you figure out your next step.