Sometime during pregnancy, it will occur to you. Soon you will have to leave your professional life behind for a few weeks or months in order to raise your baby. Up until the moment it happens, you honestly have no idea how you are going to handle the situation.
Many moms strongly defy inklings that there is even a slim chance they will join the 5.1 million moms who stay at home with their children to become work-at-home moms. And yet, you may find that leaving your baby – after so many long months of pregnancy and then delivery, is the hardest thing you have ever done. But do you really have to choose?
Having a career is difficult enough. Add a baby to the mix, and you will find that you are often torn between your child’s needs and the needs of your employer.
High-profile meetings will be canceled for fevers or vomiting; and childcare – no matter how great, is often unpredictable. The good news is that you are having your baby during a time in life when it can be easier than ever to have the best of both worlds. Exploring your options as a stay-at-home, work-at-home mom during pregnancy – may be a good idea.
The First Place to Look is Your Current Employer for Work-at-Home Opportunities.
- How much of your job could you do from home?
- Would there be any costs involved in your employer setting you up from home?
- Even more important, if given the opportunity to telecommute and be a work-at-home mom – what are you willing to give up?
The reason this is an important consideration is that, during difficult economic times like these, what you are willing to give up, can be a great bargaining chip in your corner. Obviously, if your job is in on floor sales or marketing – then the location of your job is a pre-requisite for success. However, for many women who work in an office setting, they are often telecommuting with clients anyways.
Talk to Your Employer About the Possibilities of a Work-at-Home option.
- Arm yourself with a pro and con list that you can bring to them and be prepared to answer some questions about how you will balance and manage your time at home.
- Look into company policies. In many companies, even large ones – there aren’t any precedents set about working from home that would eliminate the opportunity immediately.
- Also, if you have a management position or one of power, outline precisely how you plan to maintain your work quality even if you are not in the office all the time.
A benefit to having this discussion around the 25th week of pregnancy is that it gives you plenty of time to hammer out the details. Plus, if you find that you are put on bed rest or are taken a leave of absence prior to delivery, you can implement your ideas as a trial run. This way you can see if and where problems will be – and have time to develop amicable solutions. Plus, it shows your employer that you are committed to the company and want to find ways to remain an asset to them without compromising clients or your employment status.
If they are against it, you can also begin considering part-time options. You might be surprised how many employers will bite onto this idea, knowing that they can pay you less and take away some of your benefits. Obviously, this only works well if you have other avenues for healthcare insurance.
Thinking about being a work-at-home stay-at-home mom during pregnancy – will at least allow you to be prepared for what is about to come. There are millions of women just like you who are committed and confident that they would never give up their career or job in order to stay at home and take care of the children. And there are millions who realize in those moments right after birth, that they don’t want to leave their baby so quickly. At least if this happens to you – you will be walking on a bridge that you have already crossed and are prepared for what comes next.
On the flip side, if you don’t have the job of your dreams and are anxious to give it up in lieu of taking care of your baby – pregnancy is the perfect time to begin setting goals and researching your stay-at-home working mom options. Perhaps it will be just the motivation you need to start up that cupcake business, begin freelancing your services, or go back to school to hone some of your occupational skills.
