For three mothers, having a baby changed almost everything —their routines, their sleep and the way they planned their days. But it did not take away their ambitions.
Returning to work or university after giving birth meant learning how to balance two parts of their lives at once. For some, it came with guilt. For others, it meant spending hours away from a baby who was still only weeks old.
Despite taking very different amounts of time away, all three mothers who spoke to Khaleej Times agreed on one thing: they did not feel ready when it was time to return, but they did.
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‘I kept thinking about my children’
Aisha returned after around a month and a half, while her son was still less than two months old.
“I was thinking about my children all the time, especially my son because he was less than two months old,” she told Khaleej Times. “I missed them a lot and kept wishing the time would pass quickly so I could go back and be with him and my daughter.”
For Aisha, motherhood had already changed everything from her sleep to her daily responsibilities.
She believes mothers should ideally have at least six months before returning, although support from her husband and family helped make her own experience easier.
The challenges did not end once she returned.
Longer working hours sometimes meant arriving home late with little time or energy left for her children. She also found it difficult when unexpected situations came up, particularly if a child became sick and a manager was not understanding of her responsibilities as a mother.
Between guilt and ambition
Shahad took around two and a half months away from her studies.
She said the period did not feel long enough, as recovering from childbirth was not only about having time to care for her baby.
“Returning after giving birth needs time mentally and physically, not just time to dedicate to the child,” she told Khaleej Times.
When it was finally time to return, she found herself caught between two feelings.
“At first, I felt a little nervous and guilty about leaving my son and going back to my previous life,” she said. “But at the same time, I was excited to return, achieve my goals and feel that I was developing myself.”
Over time, she found a better balance, although organising her time remained one of the biggest challenges. Sometimes, her own rest was what she had to give up to keep up with both motherhood and her studies.
‘It was necessary for our future’
Mariam’s experience was different. She spent around a year and three months away from work and study, but even that did not feel enough.
She was pregnant with her second daughter during that period and returned after giving birth, making the experience with her second child more difficult.
Leaving her young daughters to return was not easy, but Mariam viewed it as a challenge she needed to take on.
“It was necessary to build my future and theirs, and to be able to provide them with a good life,” she told Khaleej Times.
The hardest part, she said, was simply the time she had to spend away from them.
What would make returning easier?
Despite their different experiences, all three mothers came back to one thing: flexibility.
Mariam believes flexible working hours, reduced hours during the first period after childbirth and longer maternity leave could help mothers balance their responsibilities.
Shahad said flexible hours, remote work or study options and access to childcare could make the transition easier. She also stressed the importance of emotional and practical support from the people around a new mother.
For Aisha, family support made a major difference. But she also believes understanding in the workplace is essential, particularly when mothers need to respond to an unexpected situation involving their children.
Reducing working hours, she said, could allow mothers to return home with enough time and energy to be present with their children.
For the three women, becoming mothers did not mean leaving their studies, careers or personal goals behind. But returning showed them that continuing those ambitions after motherhood can require something they all wished they had more of time and flexibility.
Source: Khaleej Times