Are you feeling that your maternity leave was too short? Did you step away from your career for a while? If so, you’re not alone. Many mothers find themselves in this situation, and a creative agency has come up with a solution to help you articulate your time away from the workforce to potential employers.
This initiative is known as The Pregnancy Pause, designed by the agency Mother Creative to support mothers who have taken a break from their careers to care for their children, especially those who extended their leave beyond the official maternity period.
How It Works
Here’s how it works: moms can add “The Pregnancy Pause” to the “Experience” section of their LinkedIn profiles. You’re free to choose your title—“Mom,” “Child Care Specialist,” or perhaps even “Job Leaver Due to Insufficient Maternity Leave Policies” could work. Simply enter your leave dates and write a brief description of your experience. Suggestions range from “Designer of Life” to “Hands-on Development Specialist.” You can even upload photos that showcase your parenting journey, or choose to leave that section blank.
Addressing Resume Gaps
When employers click on “The Pregnancy Pause,” they are directed to an informative page outlining why many mothers in the U.S. feel compelled to leave their jobs. The reality is that federally mandated maternity leave in the U.S. is a mere 12 weeks unpaid, which is inadequate. This lack of supportive policies creates gaps in resumes, and the initiative seeks to address that. A brief YouTube video encapsulates this issue effectively.
As Corinna Falusi, chief creative officer of Mother Creative, stated, “New mothers in the U.S. often feel forced to quit their jobs due to a lack of adequate maternity leave policies, which leaves them penalized for the subsequent gaps in their resumes.” To assist further, The Pregnancy Pause website offers a toolkit, including a sample resume and a reference number for potential employers to verify the program.
Inquiries and Support
The prerecorded message for inquiries states: “Hello, you’ve reached The Pregnancy Pause. You must be calling about a candidate’s resume that has mentioned her time spent here. While here, she spent innumerable hours raising a child, which has surely offered her invaluable experience as a prospective employee.”
A past suggestion to include The Pregnancy Pause on a resume may have been seen as career suicide, but the conversation around maternity leave policies is shifting. We still have much work to do, but by challenging outdated professional norms, we can foster a more supportive environment for women and families.
A Positive Step Forward
While we shouldn’t have to justify our maternity leaves to employers, The Pregnancy Pause is a positive step forward. Let’s keep the dialogue going for the benefit of our children and their futures.
If you’re interested in further information about pregnancy and home insemination, check out this excellent resource from the CDC. You might also find valuable insights on self-insemination techniques at Make A Mom. For more on home insemination strategies, visit our blog post about it.
Summary
The Pregnancy Pause is an innovative initiative designed to help mothers who have taken a break from their careers to care for their children explain their time away on LinkedIn. By adding this experience to their resumes, mothers can articulate the value of their parenting roles to prospective employers, addressing the gaps often created by inadequate maternity leave policies in the U.S.