When should I go back to work after having a baby?

In the UK, you legally have to take two weeks off work after giving birth, whether that birth was vaginally or by caesarean section. After those two weeks (four if you work in a factory), it’s really up to you.

There’s no standard ‘right time’ to go back to work after having a baby – it’s what works best for you, your baby and your family. It is inevitable that your finances will play a big part in your decision.

Some people go back quickly and arrange childcare, many take a year and some take a career break. While your choice is personal, below are some factors to consider.

Childcare and your baby’s wellbeing

The most pressing factor to think about is probably who will look after your lovely new baby when you go back to work.

There are several childcare options available, such as:

• Your partner, either stopping work themselves or through Shared Parental Leave
• Close family or friends
• Day nursery
• Childminder
• Nanny

Read more about the types of early years settings.

Questions to consider:

• Are you willing to have your baby looked after by somebody else?
• Do you have a partner with whom you could use Shared Parental Leave?
• Do you have loved ones who are willing to help with childcare?
• Will you need to pay for childcare and for how many days a week?
• Are you eligible for any government funding for childcare, such as free hours or tax-free childcare?
• Is your baby comfortable with other people?
• Is your baby able to drink from a bottle?
• Will you be able to spend quality time with your baby before and after work?

Read more about Childcare Costs.

Finances

According to research from November 2023 by Pregnant Then Screwed, only one in four mothers in the UK take their full maternity leave due to financial worries, with one in ten returning within four months of their baby’s birth.

“We have some of the lowest rates of parental leave pay in the world. National minimum wage is the legal minimum a person should be paid, yet new mothers are meant to survive on less than half of this amount for 33 weeks, whilst their outgoings remain the same.”

Joeli Brearley, CEO and founder of Pregnant Then Screwed

Grace Simpson, 31, returned to work just ten weeks after having her son last year. She said: “I went back to work quite early after having my firstborn. It was for financial reasons; my husband’s company offered full pay for the first six months after the baby’s birth for both their Maternity and Shared Parental policies. My company only offered statutory, the bare minimum basically.

“So we opted for Shared Parental Leave and were both very happy with it. I really enjoyed having the balance and he loved spending all that time with our son, but it does seem a bit unfair that I, as the mother, got so much less. Had he not had that option, we would have really struggled with money, so we were lucky.”

She added: “I think the 90% Maternity Pay should go on for longer than six weeks, it’s at least eight or nine before you even feel human again, let alone able to work and raise a baby.”

Questions to consider:

• What maternity package will your work give you?
• Is your employer willing to offer you part-time or flexible hours?
• Are you able to use ‘keeping in touch’ or ‘shared parental in touch’ days to boost your income a little? These are an allowance of 10 or 20 days, respectively, when you go to work and do your normal job and get paid, without your maternity or shared parental pay being affected.
• If you have a partner, do they earn enough to support your family for the time being?
• Do you have savings to tide you over?
• Are you eligible for any benefits?
• Will you need to pay for childcare while you work?
• How much will your chosen childcare cost?

Your recovery after birth

Everybody’s birth experience is different and everybody recovers differently. Your body has been through incredible strain, and you are recovering while going through the challenges of caring for a newborn.

Questions to consider:

• Are you mobile enough to return to work?
• Are you able to drive? (Sometimes after a caesarean you have to wait – check your car insurance policy)
• Are you on any pain relief or other medications that could impact your ability to work?
• Do you have any continence issues that could impact your ability to return to work?

Your mental wellbeing

Some mothers love staying at home to care for their baby; many of these thrive on the social aspect of meeting up with other parents, attending baby classes and the fulfilment of caring for their little one without interruption. Some find it important to go back to work for the sake of their mental health; due to financial stress, social and identity reasons, the work itself, or preferring a balance between work and home life.

Big factors in which of these applies to you will be whether you like your job and whether you are experiencing any mental health issues, either long standing or particularly after having your baby.  A 2022 study by Kings College London found that one in four mothers experience some form of mental health condition in the first year of their child’s life.

Questions to consider:

• Do you have any mental health conditions and how are they affected by being at home or at work?
• How is your sense of identity affected by being a parent and by working?
• Do you become stressed or anxious if you are away from your baby or, on the flip side, if you spend too much time at home/away from work?
• Do you miss your colleagues or your work itself?
• If you are missing the social aspects and routine of work, but don’t want to go back yet, could you establish a routine at home and meet up with people more?

Your job role

By law your employer has to allow you to return to the same job on the same or higher pay if you take 26 weeks or fewer off.

If you’ve taken more than 26 weeks, your employer may offer you a different job role under certain conditions, such as your job no longer exists.

If you’re self-employed, while you have more autonomy over when you go back, you may have to go back sooner in order to keep your business going.

Questions to consider:

• Has somebody been hired to cover for you while you’re on leave? If they have, you will likely have less flexibility in your decision about when to come back.
• How long is your employer willing to keep your role open for you?
• How long are you willing to be away from your role or industry?

Whether you’ll be able to work from home/ go part time/ phased return/ have flexible hours

Some employers accommodate flexible or reduced working hours once you’ve had a baby. Your HR department can explain your options for this.

Remember that you’ll still have accrued your usual number of holiday days while you were on maternity leave.

Questions to consider:

• Can you work from home and if you can, how will this tie in with childcare?
• Will your employer allow you to work part time, either temporarily or permanently?
• Will your employer allow a phased return?
• Are you able to have flexible start, finish and break times?
• If you work shifts, is your employer willing to let you work only certain shifts that work with your childcare?

Flexible working from April 2024

If you are applying for flexible working on or after 6 April 2024, you have new rights under the Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

The new regulations are:

• Your employer must speak to you personally about your request before rejecting it, and if they do reject it they need to have a valid business reason why you cannot work flexibly.
• You no longer need to explain to your employer how your flexible working will affect the company or think of a way to manage that impact.
• Once you’ve made your request, your employer must respond within two months (down from three previously).
• You can submit a request for flexible working twice in every 12 months (down from once previously).

Feeding

If you’re exclusively breastfeeding and don’t want to or are unable to use a pump to express milk, you may need to wait until your baby is weaned to return to work, unless you work from home.

If you are able to pump milk or are bottle or combination feeding, your employer is required to accommodate your expressing milk at work.

Questions to consider:

• Will you be able to express milk at work?
• Does your place of work have a fridge to store expressed milk in? If not, you may want to get a cooler bag to keep it in.
• How will you feed your baby at night? Will your partner be able to give them a bottle so you can sleep or will you get up?
• If you will be introducing formula once you return to work, has your baby had much formula before? It can take their stomachs time to adjust so you may want to gradually introduce it in the weeks preceding your going back to work to avoid tummy aches and vomit (if they do get this, try switching to a different formula). It’s also possible they have a dairy allergy so be sure to find the right formula before you go back.

Sleep

Babies can need a lot of care and attention at night. You may have adjusted to functioning on very little sleep in the newborn stage but you will likely need a lot more rest to do a day’s work.

Questions to consider:

• How is your baby’s sleep schedule at this stage?
• Does your baby still need feeds at night?
• Do you have a partner or somebody else who is able to help with or take over night care when you go back to work so that you can get some sleep?