Returning to work often
makes mums feel very
anxious. First time mum,
Lizzie, spoke to us about re-
turning to work when her lit-
tle boy turned 9 months.
Peak anxiety about going back to
work hit about 2 months before it
happened. I was going back early,
my baby would only be 9 months.
He was still so small, and I didn't
want to miss anything as he was
learning and changing all the time.
Knowing that I would be anxious
and that if I wasn't careful I'd leave
things to the last minute and
stress myself out more I'd already
arranged a childminder. I'd done
that when my baby was 4 months
old. Of course this provided anoth-
er anxiety, I'd already arranged
something and while I probably
could have said I wanted to wait a
bit longer, a) I felt bad and b)
practically I had to go back to
work.
I think also being one of the first in
the group of mums I'd friended
made me a bit anxious too. Was it
too soon? Nor did it help to learn
that the week before I was due
back in the office, they were mov-
ing offices to somewhere more
awkward and further away.
I wondered how we would man-
age it, because we hadn't picked a
childminder who was very close to
us either.
As the time approached it did be-
come easier, as I mentally pre-
pared myself. I confess that I am
lucky, I have a very understanding
manager and a workplace that
wanted to make sure my return to
work was as easy as possible. I
had a phased return, 3 days a
week at first, the days my baby
was at the childminder. Soon up-
ping to 4 days and that is where it
has remained. Additionally I have
the flexibility be able to leave early
to pick my baby up (my husband
drops the baby off). It took a while
to find the balance with my work-
load and the number of days I'm
working but I found it.