Time out after a baby can feel like a step off the career ladder, but a growing number of women are using it to reinvent their work lives

Words: Catherine Gray Photography: Miles Aldridge

This summer, when Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, declared she would take just a few weeks’ maternity leave after the birth of her first child and “work through it”, the world’s media had a field day: “She’s a terrible mother!”, “She’s undermining women’s right to time off after childbirth!”. “She’s living in a dream world!”

But let’s be realistic. If, like her, you’ve spent around a decade climbing up the ladder, forging a career, juggling important projects, managing staff and loving it, then the prospect of months in work wilderness can be a bleak thought. It’s not difficult to empathise with her decision.

But, viewed from another angle, a period away from work can be hugely positive – time to learn a language, take up a hobby or, as more and more women are doing, start a new business. Even if children are not on your agenda, time away from the daily slog – a sabbatical or long holiday for instance – can inspire new ventures.

Power maternity leave is a trend that’s taking root. In fact, for those women taking time off to have a child, often being a new mother can highlight gaps in the childcare market on which women’s business skills, honed from years in industry, can capitalise.

“Studies show that during pregnancy our brains are more resourceful and creative,” reveals psychologist Marisa Peer, author of Trying To Get Pregnant (And Succeeding). Removing ourselves from the stresses of work helps recharge our minds, she explains. “The popularly peddled notion of ‘baby brain’, whereby our minds are like sieves, is a farce. It’s mere tiredness. In general, when rested, our brains are sparkier.”

Now, 34% of new businesses are headed by women. There are 300,000 ‘mumpreneurs’ working in the UK right now, and business is booming for 90% of them. Barclays says that women with small businesses are now more likely to have children than not.

It makes sense. We’re so used to managing multiple projects – buying a new house while planning a wedding and restructuring our work team – that sitting around watching daytime TV while your baby sleeps is anathema to our hard-wired work ethic. Those precious months, as well as allowing you time to nurture your baby, give you the chance to take a step back and really think about your career prospects and whether your current job is fulfilling you in the way you’d like. Given the low outlay it takes to start kitchen-table industries (as little as £500 in some cases) and the fact that, according to the National Enterprise Network, financiers are now “bending over backwards” to support mumpreneurs, it’s little wonder we have a revolution on our hands.

We spoke to four women who changed their jobs – and their lives – while on maternity leave.

Turn your career break into a life-changing opportunity with our Power Maternity Leave evening on 27 November. Click here to book tickets for this latest Stylist Network event.

“I felt creative while pregnant”