Dystanie Douglas-Burger’s Post

🎈🎉 Today marks a special milestone in our household - my son turns four! 🎂 It's one of those birthdays that feels particularly significant, perhaps because it's the (big) upcoming transition from nursery to school this September. As I watch him grow, I'm reminded of how swiftly time passes and how pivotal these moments of reflection are. Parenting, I've learned, is constant with various stages, transitions, and emotions. It's not just about the major leaps like pregnancy to newborn or maternity leave to returning to work - though those are undeniably monumental. There are countless other moments along the journey that can be equally challenging and transformative. Today, as we celebrate my son's birthday, I'm struck by the importance of acknowledging and supporting each other through these transitions, big and small. To fellow parents, remember, you're not alone. There's a whole community ready to offer support and understanding, from pregnancy to career navigation and beyond. And to employers, I urge you to check in with your employees during these significant milestones. Don't underestimate the impact of a simple "How are you feeling?" It's a reminder that the journey of parenthood is ongoing, and a little support along the way can make all the difference. It’s ok to find these phases conflicting, and it’s more than ok to ask for support through it. I don’t think the ‘other’ stages of parenthood are acknowledged or talked about enough! So here's to embracing the whole journey of parenthood - the joys, the challenges, and everything in between. 🌟Can anyone else relate to this? Share your experiences or any advice you'd like to offer in the comments below! #Parenthood #Reflections #SupportiveCommunity

I know nothing of pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum recovery (while managing to keep a child alive)......like nothing. No one with any sense would leave a baby with me. I do not know about it because I have not participated in any of that. Even my best friends that have gone through it, bore the difficulties in silence because they did not want to be ungrateful for their blessings. HOWEVER, it is incredibly hard! I have never had the behind the scene view that I have recently had. Thank goodness cultural attitudes are changing, and women are beginning to share the challenges faced postpartum. Nearly, 1 in 4 American women return to work within two weeks of giving birth, with three-quarters of the women citing financial struggle as the reason why they return to work (cite is in the comments). 💡 If your company is considering paid parental or family leave, share your consideration with you employee population. (Remember it can be as little as 1 to 2 weeks of leave, which would help out a lot.) If the organization cannot afford it, due to labor shortage or financial reasons, share that with the workforce, if they have requested it. Just ignoring their requests...does not make it go away. 💡 Recognizing not all companies can afford the financial toll of paid parental/family leave, consider allowing employees to retain a portion of PTO to use later in the year and not forcing them to 100% of it to run concurrent with FMLA, if eligible. ⚡ Remember, paid parental leave is an extremely useful recruiting and total rewards tool that can assist in attracting and retaining top talent. #Maine just became the 13th state to establish the creation of a paid family and medical leave program. #pregnancy #fmla #paidparentalleave #paidleave #paidfamilyleave #womeninbusiness #womenatwork #women #womenempoweringwomen #postpartum #postpartumsupport

Embarking on the journey of motherhood in the US often feels like stepping into a new world, filled with boundless love, unexpected joy, and of course, a set of challenges that come with the terrain. 🤰🏼Hi mama, I’m Trish, also known as @labor.nurse.mama. Comment #trimesterchecklist for my pregnancy checklist that walks you through key tasks that you need for every stage of your pregnancy journey. ❤️ Amidst the adorable baby giggles and the heart-melting first steps, there are some sobering facts that reflect a side of the American motherhood narrative that demands our attention: 1️⃣ Pregnancy Discrimination: In an era of progression, it's disheartening that discrimination during pregnancy still finds a place. A time that should be embraced sometimes becomes a pathway littered with unfair judgments. 2️⃣ Income Drop: With the arrival of a new baby, many moms witness about $16k less on their paycheck each year. That's a significant amount that could have been spent on creating a nurturing environment for the little one. 3️⃣ Paid Maternity Leave: While many places around the globe ensure new moms have paid maternity leave, offering both financial and mental peace, in the US, this often remains a distant dream rather than a standard practice. 4️⃣ The Hustle Culture: Our unyielding hustle culture tends to overlook the fact that new moms are navigating through the beautiful chaos of motherhood alongside managing their careers. 5️⃣ Default Parent: The societal norm often frames moms as the default parent for every warm snuggle, every tiny boo-boo, and every midnight cry, subtly overlooking the essence of shared parental responsibility. These facts are not mere bullet points; they mirror the daily experiences and the unsung stories of numerous moms. Amidst the joyous highs, there are lows that can be quite daunting. How have these facets of motherhood in the US touched your life? And more significantly, how can we come together to foster a narrative of understanding, support, and equal responsibility? Your thoughts?

A very influential woman in the startup industry recently made a post on her power-packed pregnancy story. Wonderful to read? Yes! Do I agree with it? Principally - No. But what qualifies me to have an opinion? - I’ve worked all through my 2nd pregnancy - travelling for investor meetings until my 9th month of pregnancy. - I’ve worked on the day I delivered my baby. - I’ve worked a few hours after delivering her. - I’ve resumed formal work 2 days post delivery and continued without taking a break. But the advice you hear me giving women in my team, circle & community is simple - take it easy, take the time off if you can manage. God knows it’s tough building a whole new human inside you. There is absolutely no reason to “prove a point”, “prove you are equal to the opposite gender”, prove to the world that “despite pregnancy you are unstoppable”, because simply put - at this moment in time, you are not! You are way above and beyond, you’re literally a goddess building the miracle of life. Do what makes you happy! Work if that’s what you love, rest if that’s what you need. Organisations need to build a work culture celebrating women who are pregnant, starting with providing them flexible work hours, hybrid working models, active mentoring for what to expect leading up to, during and post maternity break. Special shout-out to Reckitt where I experienced all this and more during my first pregnancy. I’ve seen women in their 7th month of pregnancy getting promoted and given important projects. It speaks volumes about the company and deeply impacts all women employees in the most positive way. Please let’s put the onus of culture change on the companies and not on pregnant women & new moms who already have more than enough on their plate :). Agree to disagree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below :) #pregnancy #motherhood #workingmom #reckitt #houseofzelena #newmom

I started sharing my pregnancy far earlier this time than my with my first, largely to allow for better parental leave planning. With 2ish weeks to go (send me all the vibes/thoughts/juju/prayers that kiddo stays put for at least 1 more week), this lawmom Wednesday post is my check-in on planning progress. I started sharing the news conversationally with clients when it felt appropriate around the half-way mark. I put a note in my signature block about my anticipated upcoming leave plans around the end of my second trimester. I started actively communicating my scheduling availability with OC and clients starting in late August. As of last week, I don't schedule anything more than 48hrs in advance just in case. And as of yesterday, I spent several hours with my team of colleagues going over my active matters, their status, action items needed (from me pre-delivery, and from them on leave) to identify who will be my client point person for each matter. I have to admit, I have a lot to do. I had hoped to have that colleague conversation earlier. It felt as if all of the cases came out of the woodwork in September and I ended up a lot busier than I expected to be at this point in time. Compared to last round, where I really only started communicating externally at about the 8mo mark, I am overall glad I started these conversations early. It forced me to hold myself accountable for the work I agreed to take on and think about how, when, and how long I could push myself (or indeed whether I should push myself) to get work done in time. If you planned into your parental leave, how did it go? When did you start telling people? #lawmom #pregnant #parentalleave #paidleave

When a married woman, likely new to her workplace, discovers she is pregnant, she might hesitate to share the "good news" with colleagues or her boss. This hesitation stems from a pervasive and troubling reality: the moment she announces her pregnancy, she risks being perceived as unreliable. Assumptions abound—she’ll frequently take leave, use her maternity leave and never return, or exploit her pregnancy for preferential treatment. But what happens when her pregnancy ends in a miscarriage? Will she still keep the "bad news" to herself, fearing it will be met with the same lack of understanding? This silent struggle highlights a deep-seated issue: the stigma and misunderstanding surrounding working mothers and pregnancy. It's not just about maternity leave policies; it's about fostering a culture of empathy and respect. We must create workplaces where expecting mothers can share both their joy and sorrow without fear of judgment or career repercussions. It’s not just about policies—it's about people.

Jessica also provided these further comments in addition to her 6-word story “I left the job market and started my own company. It was just too hard to balance life with a neurodivergent kid.”   The Working Parent Project aims to uncover the stories behind the working parenthood statistics. To do this, we’ve been collecting people’s 6-word stories about their experiences through pregnancy, parental leave and return to work. This post contains one of the submitted stories.   We are sharing stories one by one to keep these issues in people’s minds and keep the conversation going. Ultimately, we hope to raise greater awareness, empathy and understanding of the working parent experience so that more effective support can be provided. Here’s the link if you’d like to share your story https://lnkd.in/g4h2t9ge Please feel free to share the link and this post amongst your networks. #workingparents #workingparentproject #hummingbirdcareers

The Pregnant Founder. ** The giving birth ** So, what does it mean, for me, right now? No, I'm not giving birth right now. What does it mean for a founder to be working "until it happens"? As in, not saying "by week 37, I'm in maternity leave". But instead "when the baby arrives, I'll take 40 days off for parental leave". Meaning, from week 37 of pregnancy (hopefully not earlier or the baby would be premature), up to 42 weeks (when he might be induced), the baby can be born *anytime*. How often do we navigate a vast unknown timeframe of 5 weeks? How do we prepare for it? And also, practically: what does it mean work wise? And when the labor does start: what does it mean for the woman (me)? I am, 37 weeks and 5 days pregnant, over 40 weeks. My baby now wouldn't be premature if born, and the doctor said he might arrive on the early side. I've been having painful contractions here and there for the past days. I'm still, though, in this 5-weeks window of the unkown. So how am I prepared? ✅ My parental leave plan has been shared with my whole team ✅ My point of contact, acting CEO, in the company, is fully aware of the process and fully onboarded with her responsibilities ⭕ Big projects: I'm still winding down big projects on my end (eg. last investor calls, in which now I give updates, but say we'll reconnect when I'm back from parental leave) ⭕ Urgent + Important To Do: Still writing off my "must-do before leaving" list - but it's getting smaller by the day. Important admin, time-sensitive accounting, for instance ⭕ Bonus: Once I'll be done with that urgent and important list, anything onward is bonus / can be handed over to an owner in the team - so it's a constant update and making sure nothing is left "pending" ❌ When labor starts: I need to activate my OOO email, and for a few important stakeholders, send an email announcing from that time onwards, conversations are postponed 40 days (to be drafted) That's what it means "work until the last moment". Be impressed by women, because we are, incredible. ➡️ Follow for the (real) life of a founder

Our new report 'A Perfect Storm: pregnancy, new motherhood and the cost of living crisis' examines how we have come to a situation where mothers have to choose between feeding themselves or feeding their families; feeding their families or heating their homes.  Where women are forced to return to work early – well before they are ready – because they simply cannot afford to take their full entitlement to maternity leave. The negative impact on partner relationships and child mental health that such a period of financial stress has can be devastating. We set out the changes that need to be made by government and employers to alleviate the current unacceptable situation that so many new mothers are living with. Most importantly of all we reflect the thoughts, views and experiences of the many women facing this crisis who have contributed so willingly and openly to our research and reports. Our report is accompanied by a detailed discussion of the research evidence which you can find here:  The impact on mothers and families of low maternity payments and the cost of living crisis: a literature review’ https://lnkd.in/en56uHtB