Need to know:
- Maternity coaching can provide emotional and practical support to make it easier to balance work and parental commitments.
- Support around return to work is important, especially as 17% of women leave employment completely in the five years after childbirth.
- Online services, mentoring and buddying can provide coaching support where budgets are tight.
Becoming a parent is a life-changing event, with the arrival of a new child encouraging many to examine their work and life priorities. For employers, providing parental or maternity coaching can help new mums and dads navigate these changes.
Although this is still a niche benefit, with multinationals, legal and financial services firms most likely to offer it, interest is growing, says Lucie McGrath, director, health and benefits (GB) at Willis Towers Watson.
She explains: “Employers are recognising they need to support employees forming families. Becoming a parent is a significant transition and many people struggle to balance work and home commitments; coaching can help these employees take a step back and reassess their lives.”
This benefits employees and employers. A study by the Universities of Bristol and Essex, Employment pathways and occupational change after childbirth, published in October 2019, found that 17% of women leave employment completely in the five years following childbirth, compared to just 4% of men. This is detrimental to the careers and future pensions of these women, of course, but this loss of talent is costly to employers too.
There are also serious health implications for new mothers, which maternity coaching and support could help to tackle. “One in five women develop mental health problems in pregnancy or during the first year, and suicide is a leading cause of maternal death,” says McGrath.
Coaching content
Maternity coaching, or parental transition coaching as it is also known, can support different aspects of becoming a new parent.
Helen Letchfield, cofounder of P&P Coaching, says that it starts with practical support, with everything from preparing a handover plan before maternity leave to helping a new parent arrange their return to work.
“We can also provide employees with coaching around the emotional side of becoming a parent,” she says. “This might explore their feelings around being a parent or why they’re feeling anxious about returning to work. We then work with them to understand their emotions and rebuild their confidence where necessary.”
Coaching can also help new parents strike a balance between work and life. Kirsteen Williamson-Guinn, founder of coaching services Return to Work and Elevate Women, explains: “We help employees taking parental leave have an open conversation with their employer about what they need and expect. After parental leave, women especially can feel they owe the [employer] for letting them take time off. This stops them asking for the flexibility and support they need, with far too many leaving as a result.”
To reduce this risk and enable a smooth return, some maternity coaching services will work with the employer as well as the employee. For example, Letchfield has a session with each returning employee’s manager to explore how the new parent can be supported.
Coaching provision
Coaching can be provided in a variety of different ways. As well as one-to-one sessions, many of which are now held virtually, group coaching is an option, too.
Joanne Waterworth, head of employer services at Working Families, says: “It’s more cost-effective and gives employees an opportunity to share their experiences and challenges. It can also help them to form a peer network to support one another."
Support can also be provided through online services and apps such as WoMo, Phoebe and Peppy, or by accessing podcasts such as The Talent Keeper Specialists’ Comeback Coach.
The scope of these services varies. For instance, while Phoebe provides life and work integration coaching as well as practical support through pregnancy and postpartum, Peppy’s Baby services focuses on the health and wellbeing issues of pregnancy and becoming a mum.
Vicky Carne, clinical director for Baby at Peppy, explains: “Employees have unlimited access to a team of midwives, lactation consultants and specialist community public health nurses who can help them with everything from managing early pregnancy symptoms to breastfeeding and baby’s development. The NHS is under pressure so this is designed to fill the gaps.”
Where budgets are tight, there are still options to provide some coaching to new parents. Waterworth recommends more informal arrangements such as mentoring and buddying to provide employees with support.
“Simple measures such as offering flexible working, phased returns and promoting keeping in touch days can really help new parents but the right culture is key,” she says.
Waterworth concludes: “Having an open and supportive culture encourages early conversations, which can really ease the transition.”
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