For women who want to become mothers, the choice is fraught with sacrifice and uncertainty in their careers. Freya Leete, a PR consultant in Tunbridge Wells, joined a London startup during an exciting growth phase of her career – but not long after disclosing her surprise pregnancy to her employer (which she cannot name due to being bound by an NDA), she found herself without a job.

“I walked into what I thought was going to be my six-month review meeting, but instead I was made redundant,” she said. “I was five months pregnant and couldn’t believe what was happening. I left feeling so angry that they were doing this to me and stressed about how to afford the baby, as I knew the likelihood of another company hiring me at this stage was hugely unlikely,” she said.

Freya initially pursued legal advice but eventually negotiated a settlement to prioritise her financial and emotional wellbeing and move forward.

For so many like Freya, the motherhood penalty derails women from their career track – and the consequences can impact the entire trajectory of their professional success. The Child Penalty Atlas, a research project studying the impact of parenthood on men and women’s careers globally, found that “shortly after the baby’s arrival, women’s employment plummets sharply, while men’s continues on a relatively smooth upwards trajectory. After a few years, both men and women stabilise – but women’s employment never returns to pre-child levels.”

And when a corporate structure doesn’t support mothers the way they need, they’re pushed out of the workforce completely. Following her redundancy and as a new mother, Freya struggled to find work that suited her. When her second child was eight months old, she decided to go back to work, but she still hasn’t found the career security she had before having children.

“My professional confidence had been left in tatters, so I took a job that I was overqualified for. I still struggle with my confidence and think I always will. I found it really hard to navigate motherhood and my career, always feeling guilty about one or the other. This intensified once my eldest started school, as school and work hours simply don’t make sense. I’ve now made the decision to go freelance so I can navigate a better work-life balance that aligns with the needs of my family,” she said.

The ‘motherhood penalty’ is responsible for a large part of the gender pay gap – here’s what you need to know