How to support your pregnant employees

As I head out on maternity leave with my first little boy, I can’t help but be overwhelmed with gratitude.

Yes, my benefits are incredible and help so much. My $500 deductible, $0 taken out of my paycheck for my premiums, the 4 months of leave I am able to take, with only one week of that being unpaid – all of it this is so appreciated. However, there are other important aspects of supporting women who choose to undertake pregnancy and are able to continue working.

This journey to motherhood has taken my already curious nature and exploded it – I hesitate to calculate the amount of hours I have spiraled on the physical, mental and emotional changes that impact a pregnant woman. Despite the fact that I am surrounded by many incredible moms who have forged this path, I found myself feeling very ignorant in my understanding and hope this provides anyone who manages, works with, and helps support pregnant women in the workplace some deeper understanding.

Each woman is different and is going to have very different pregnancies but my hope in sharing some of my thoughts is we can all understand each other a little more.

1. Do what you can to mitigate stress

I don’t believe anyone actively tries to stress people out, but being very cognizant to provide support, check in, and mitigate stress is critical. The reason for this has to do with a number of repercussions of stress - the concept and research around Epigenetic Imprinting, and the physiological responses to stress impact pregnant women if very unique ways.

Epigenetic Imprinting-

Epigenetics is changes to your DNA that are inherited or passed down alongside your genes. Bottom line - what you are exposed to, starting as a fetus, helps shape you – from toxins, to the diet of pregnant women, to cortisol spikes due to exposure to stress all make a difference in who you become.

“Human and animal studies have demonstrated that perturbations in early life, especially in the critical developmental window of intrauterine life, have programming effects on health outcomes in later life. A growing body of literature has also demonstrated that prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) can adversely impact a variety of developmental outcomes in the offspring throughout childhood that persist into adulthood [1, 2].”

Stress Induced Blood Pressure spikes –

When you have an emotional or physical response to stress that results in a blood pressure spikes, and those spikes become uncontrollable and consistent you can be deemed “high risk”. This can lead to protein in the blood and can cause a slew of issues for both momma and baby. Stress management and balance become critical, and no longer a nice to have.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40610-016-0030-xhttps://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=224345

2.  Overcoming the expectation that you are just going to do everything the same, just do it pregnant…

Pregnancy changes you, all of you. Physically, mentally, emotionally. To expect someone to continue to act, think and behave as they always have is irrational. Now, expectations of work deadlines and project completions should stay intact, we have to get the job done, but HOW we do things may begin to shift.

The way someone may have processed new information or changes a year ago, may be very different now. Their fatigue and nausea may be impacting their mental capacity more than they lead on. If you notice these changes, open up a dialogue on how you can support someone to ensure they have what they need to be successful.

“Hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and others most likely drive the changes in the brain structure and function during pregnancy. A study published in Nature Neuroscience reveals that during pregnancy women undergo significant brain remodeling that persists for at least two years after birth. The study also offers preliminary evidence that this remodeling may play a role in helping women transition into motherhood.”

https://www.brainfacts.org/brain-anatomy-and-function/body-systems/2018/how-pregnancy-changes-the-brain-022818

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pregnancy-causes-lasting-changes-in-a-womans-brain/

3. If you are a manager and you don’t understand how medical leave works, and how that may/may not affect your employees pay. EDUCATE YOURSELF!

Navigating all the newness that parenthood brings to all parents is hard. The least you could do as a manager of any parent coming up on leave is to do everything in your power to educate yourself on your company’s leave policies, and how their compensation may be impacted. Once you understand it, work with your employee to provide information, support and advocacy.

If you don’t find the tools provided by your company helpful, work with your HR teams and provide suggestions.

Be clear and ensure that parents on leave know how their work pre and post leave will be evaluated and they feel confident in all these details when returning to work.

4. Help them!

Even as a female leader at my company, there are still feelings of guilt I struggle with around wanting to ensure I can be all things – a leader, a hard worker and an emotionally and physically healthy pregnant woman who doesn’t need any “special treatment”. HOORAH! Right? WRONG! I struggled with the concept of asking for accommodations, not because I didn’t think I would be granted them, but because I felt bad about it. Why? I really can’t pinpoint why, it’s just the way I felt.

If your folks are seeking any accommodations – work with your HR team to ensure they are supported. This could be as minimal to needing to space out meetings due to needing to refuel, shifting travel expectations, or ensuring their work station is ergonomically friendly.

Also, help your people build their OOO plan, and start early. I started by leave documentation 5 months before my leave.

 Great things to include:

• How To documents for any work they are in charge of
• Documentation of all projects in progress along with clear ownership and next steps for while they are away
• Lists of what needs to be accomplished on a daily/weekly/monthly basis
• Checklist of the items that need to be done before they leave (clearing out their calendar, setting up notifications/reminders, people to email/alert of their leave…)

5. Create space for the transition back to work

I haven’t made this step yet, so more to come on this topic – but as a basic rule of thumb – be a human. Hormones are still regulating, new parents are trying to figure out new routines and mommas are sometimes adding breastfeeding and pumping to the mix. Recognize that if you have any employee returning to work after an extended medical leave, accommodations may be needed, and they need your help getting back up to speed.

These are just my thoughts on this journey based on what I have seen and what I have experienced. What else would you add to this list?

If you want to dialogue more on this topic, I am always excited to chat and share (but it will have to wait until June 2020 when I get back to work :))