Three Reminders for Ambitious Women Preparing for Maternity Leave (or Returning To Work)

I know how intangible it feels when people tell you that motherhood will change you.

Before becoming a mother, you might not feel the need to change anything. You know who you are, what you want, and where you're heading. Hence, especially ambitious women focus on preparing for their leave, making sure their work is covered smoothly while they step away, and feel ready to return to ‘normal’ after their leave.

But then motherhood changes you anyway.

This is why I believe preparing for maternity leave should be about more than handing over responsibilities and making sure everything runs smoothly in your absence. It should also be about laying the foundations for your return and giving yourself the space to navigate the person you're becoming.

So here are three reminders to help you prepare for a return to work that reflects who you're becoming, not just who you were before.

     1. You don't have to ‘bounce back’; embrace your return as a new chapter

You don't have to be exactly who you were before. You're still you, but now you're also a mother. And you don't have to choose between being a good mother and having an ambitious career.

For many ambitious women, a career is more than a job. It is a source of identity, purpose, intellectual stimulation, and achievement. It represents years of hard work, personal development, and professional relationships.

So when motherhood enters the picture, the possibility of change can feel unsettling. What if I don't feel as driven as before? What if I want to work differently? What if the career I've worked so hard to build no longer fits the life I want to lead?

Or perhaps the opposite happens. You return to work eager to take on new challenges, only to find that others make assumptions about your availability, flexibility, or willingness to pursue the next promotion.

There is no single way motherhood changes a woman's relationship with work. Some women feel a renewed sense of purpose. Others need time to rediscover what matters to them. Many experience a mixture of both.

The transition into motherhood, often described as matrescence, involves profound changes across our identity, relationships, and sense of self. Like other major life transitions, it can take time to understand what these changes mean for us.

Yet the expectation at work is often that we will simply pick up where we left off. We assume the woman coming back will be the same woman who left.

But what if a successful return isn't about going backwards? What if it's about moving forward with a clearer understanding of who you are and what you need to thrive?

You don't need to have the answers before your baby arrives. You don't need to decide now how your ambitions might evolve. You can give yourself permission to find out and adapt along the way.

2. Redefining success doesn't mean losing your ambition

One of the most persistent assumptions about working motherhood is that women eventually have to choose: their children or their careers, their family or their ambition.

This false choice creates unnecessary pressure.

You can be deeply committed to your child and ambitious about your career. You can value flexibility and want to lead a team. You can set boundaries around your time and still be a high performer.

What may change is how you want to pursue your ambitions.

Perhaps you become more intentional about where you invest your energy. Perhaps you care less about being present at every meeting and more about the impact of your contribution. Perhaps you realize that the way you've worked for years is no longer sustainable, and you want to find a different way.

These changes don't automatically mean you've become less committed or capable. They may simply reflect a new understanding of what matters to you.

Motherhood can also bring qualities that are valuable in leadership: a sharper sense of priorities, greater adaptability, an ability to navigate uncertainty, and a deeper understanding of different perspectives. These qualities don't appear automatically in every mother, nor do women need motherhood to become good leaders. But they can be recognized, developed, and brought into the workplace.

The challenge is to create space for women to integrate these experiences into their professional lives, rather than expecting them to leave one part of themselves at the door.

And that starts with giving yourself permission to question your old definitions of success.

3. You don't have to navigate this transition alone

Preparing for maternity leave is often a highly organized process. There are forms to complete, responsibilities to hand over, and practical arrangements to make.

Preparing for the return, however, can feel much less structured.

You might not know how you'll feel until you get there. Your manager might never have supported someone through this transition before. Your organization might have a maternity policy, but no clear process for helping you navigate your return.

And while you're figuring it all out, the expectation remains that you'll somehow make everything work. This is why support matters.

It might mean having an honest conversation with your partner about how responsibilities will be shared. It might mean working with your manager to establish realistic expectations. It might mean speaking to other mothers who understand the experience, or seeking professional support to reflect on your identity, priorities, and ambitions.

Whatever form it takes, you deserve more than being told to manage the transition yourself.

Maternity leave is not simply time away from work. It is part of a significant life transition, and returning to work is another important stage of that journey.

The more space you give yourself to prepare, reflect, and ask for support, the better equipped you may feel to navigate the changes ahead.

I hope this resonates and helps you prepare for your maternity transition through a different perspective. 

And if you’d like support with navigating your career alongside motherhood, I’m here for you!

With love, Isabel 

A resource for the journey ahead

If you're preparing for maternity leave right now, you don't need to have all the answers. You don't know yet how motherhood will change you, what your priorities will be, or how your career will evolve. But you can start laying the foundations for a more intentional transition.

That means preparing not only for your absence, but also for your return. Making space to navigate the changes motherhood brings. Reflecting on your priorities and ambitions. And having the conversations that will help you build a sustainable way of working in this new chapter of your life.

This is why I created the &BEYOND Maternity Transition Online Programme.

Designed for ambitious women who want to continue thriving in their careers alongside motherhood, the programme guides you through the four phases of where motherhood and your career: Pre-Leave, On Leave, Re-Entry, and &Beyond.

Through practical tools, reflection exercises, and conversation guides, it helps you prepare for leave, navigate the transition, approach your return with greater clarity, and think intentionally about what comes next.

You can move forward as the woman you're becoming.