Having a baby can cause you to change your career path completely or lead you to choosing motherhood over career. It is possible that you have heard a mom or two say that “having a baby ruined my career”. There is no doubt that having a baby affects a woman’s career. Even a self-employed mom might find herself having to make certain adjustments once she gets pregnant and especially in the year or so after she has had her baby.
How having a baby affects your career
It’s not all bad!
- Fewer opportunities for career progression. Having to be absent from work for the duration of your maternity leave and periods before your maternity leave due to illness during pregnancy, for example, can be detrimental to your progression up the career ladder. There is less time for your employer to assess your capability for higher roles.
- Illness during pregnancy can affect performance. It can lead to you having lower output in terms of productivity as well as in relation to your level of quality of work.
- Better delegatory skills. You have to consider that you now have more on your plate at home because you have a baby to consider. You therefore learn to delegate tasks both at home and at work (if applicable) a lot more efficiently because you know you have to make better use of your time.
- Lower performance at work due to more work in the home. As you have more work to do at home with a baby or with your children, it is possible that you become too tired to work at your optimal best.
- Fewer opportunities to request a salary increase. Just as there are fewer opportunities for promotion in the workplace, there are also few chances for you to request a raise in your salary for good work done.
- Better prioritization skills. You learn to put the most important things first both at work and in the home when you have a baby because you simply have so little time. You realize what tasks at work need to come first in order for you to comfortably end your work day and go home to your kid(s).
With these ups and downs of having babies while being a career woman, it is not surprising that many people conclude that it is not feasible to do both things.
Can a woman be a mother and have a career?
In a word, yes. It is indeed possible to have a career and be a mom. There are a few words that sum up what you would need to achieve in order to do it successfully. ‘Balance’ is one of them. ‘Community’ is another important one that I believe to be absolutely necessary but can be very difficult to obtain if you are just not in a position to create one. ‘Planning’ is yet another useful one.
Here are a few articles to guide you through being a mom and working full time:
READ:
Working Moms, Don’t Miss These 5 Secrets to Relieve Stress!
How to raise a family while being a momentrepreneur
I hope both articles provide you with some useful tips. However, you may be at a point in your life where you can truly afford to choose between career and family.
How to decide between career or baby
Essentially, you have to weigh up what is most important to you: climbing the career ladder and being able to afford more or spending lots of time with your babies and being able to watch them grow.
The answer to this question depends on a few different things: age, financial situation and medical history are some of the main things to take into consideration.
RELATED: What is the right age to start having babies?
- Age
If you are above the age of 40, for example, and trying to decide between having a baby and working full time all the time, you are likely to have to settle on getting pregnant. This is because you will most likely be taking your biological clock into account.
- Financial situation
Being in a financial position to have a baby is, of course, very important. Certainly, people have children without being financially ready for them. This does not mean that they had an easy time of it. While money is not everything, it does make a big difference to how much you can provide your baby with. Being in a difficult financial position may mean it is best for you to focus on your career for a while instead.
- Medical history
Some women are forced to make a decision on whether they should try for a baby now rather than later because of medical problems. Whether linked to their age or not, it is possible for medical conditions to make conception difficult for some women and they have to start trying to conceive earlier rather than later – regardless of how far they have gone in their career.
Whatever factors are influencing your decision to go for climbing the ladder or having babies, know that moms can continue to chase their career goals. Some moms even make the decision to change career paths once they enter parenthood.
Why becoming a mom can make you change career paths
There are some reasons why women can see new parenthood as a good time to retrain or veer off their current career path into another.
- You might discover a hobby or find that your hobby can be lucrative
- Personality changes post-baby can make decide that you are no longer a good fit for your current career path
- Taking a step back from your company during maternity leave can make you decide that you do not want to return to the same environment
- You realize you are in a career that allows you to jump right back in if you really need to after taking a very long break
- You are in a stressful role that you are eager to leave anyway
Of course, there are many more reasons why moms might change career paths post-baby. These are a few.
To conclude…
Know that having a baby does not mean that your career is ruined. If your current role is not sustainable after having a baby, getting a job after having a baby is not impossible. You simply have to choose wisely and do not be afraid to explore other career paths.
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