‘…There’s no substituting actual time with your child’: Understanding first-time mothers’ readiness to return to work

Abstract

This article explores first-time mothers’ readiness to return to paid work at approximately 18 weeks postpartum. In particular, it explores how aspects of one’s workplace, home, community, baby and self shape readiness to return to work and how levels of adjustment to early motherhood relate to levels of readiness to return to work. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 26 first-time mothers at approximately 18 weeks postpartum. Overall, participants demonstrated a lack of self-perceived readiness to return to work even though they demonstrated a high level of self-perceived adjustment to early motherhood. The lack of readiness to return to work was largely affected by baby and individual factors such as the baby’s developmental stage and women’s wish to spend more time with their baby. This evidence raises issues about whether 18 weeks of Parental Leave Pay is enough to ensure first-time mothers’ readiness to return to work.