So there’s a lot of talk this week about new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who is pregnant with her first child. She has stated that she will only be taking a few weeks of maternity leave and that she will be working throughout. Watch to hear where I come out on this issue!
What about you? Did you feel you needed a long maternity leave? How difficult did you find being a first-time parent to a newborn? Share your opinions by commenting below or Tweet me @CloudMom.
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I agree that this is a very unique situation, and I also agree with your comment that until you go through it, you don’t totally understand what it is like to have a newborn as well as you don’t know how your baby will be. I think that maybe it is premature for her to say she will work throughout it. What does that mean – she is taking a few weeks but is working throughout it? Even with the best support system, I think the first few weeks with your first baby can be challenging as well as precious. I had 6 months off with my first child and I loved every minute of it. The first few weeks can be hard though – I remember it taking me forever just to get out the door! I breastfed and I remember I felt like I was always feeding him or changing him – that alone takes up a good part of your day with a newborn! Even if the baby is easy, your hormones are so out of wack the first few weeks – might be dangerous for her to be running a big company!!!
I really agree with what you are saying…it is an intense and special time.
Thanks for watching us!
xo, M
I don’t agree with either stance. I believe in integrating your job & family, esp the newborns, who need the constant presence of their mothers. I have 7 kids, breastfed each for 3 yrs each. And I do mean I really nursed them, not bottle fed pumped breastmilk, either! I attended a staff mtg 20 mins after my one dd was born, granted the mtg got a little late start, because the placenta hadn’t been yet delivered when the other midwives showed up for the mtg, but after that slight delay, it was business as usual! I was back at work 10 hrs after one ds was born, had PTA mtg 15 hrs after another sons birth, Took both a DS & DD with me to school when they were 1st born (not at the same time!) & had a literally still-wet-behind-the-ears baby to the library when I was doing research for a project (Before internet). I must have been born in the wrong century, because I was one of those peasant women you used to read about, working in the field, squat down, plop out a baby, tie it securely to their breast or back, & keep on working.
I think it’s a shame we are such a CYA, suit-happy society that more women don’t have the opportunity to wear their babies while they work. I wore my babies in such a way that they could sleep or nurse, secure at my breast, while had both my hands & my brain free to carry on my daily tasks. Breaks for diaper changes take less time from work than smoke breaks & is a lot healthier! Not once in all those years did any of my babies get hurt, while I was wearing them at work, nor did caring for them impede my ability to do my job.