Maternity Coaching

What is it?

Maternity coaching offers the confidential opportunity and space to reflect and successfully prepare for the challenges and demands which being pregnant, out of the workplace on maternity leave and returning to work as the mother of a young child raises.

Your Managing Maternity coach facilitates this through a process of listening, questioning, feedback, encouraging accountability and the introduction of appropriate tools, models and frameworks. Goals are specified and follow-up action agreed.

What happens?

At the first session, The Maternity Project™ Questionnaire, Managing Maternity’s research-based maternity coaching model, is used to help define the areas for focus.

This same tool is offered for review during the coaching programme and helps a woman evaluate her progress and achievements. Discussion of key topics relating to both work and baby helps to shape the coaching agenda.

Ongoing coaching sessions are between 60 – 120 minutes in length and are with the same highly-experienced coach throughout pregnancy, maternity leave and return to work.

All Managing Maternity coaches are experienced coaches, business women and mothers, who all have first-hand experience of managing the balance of work and family.

The coaching process and responses to the Maternity Project™ Questionnaire are confidential.

What sort of issues are covered?

These are some typical subjects that women use the sessions to explore but what is discussed is very much driven by the individual woman and her needs, based on her responses to The Maternity Project™ Questionnaire.

During pregnancy

• Planning the transition and having strategic influence on arrangements for maternity leave
• Communication with managers, colleagues and clients
• Flexible working requests
  

During maternity leave

• Reconnecting with the business and professional networks
• Maintaining career focus while expanding own life vision
• Enhancing confidence after being away from the workplace

On return

• Maintaining a strategic focus and prioritising
• Assertive and influential communicationHelping others know what’s needed
• Reducing the incidence of unaddressed issues
• Managing stressful reactions at home and work
• Finding new perspectives on possible guilt at leaving child, or guilt at leaving work on time
  

Coaching programme

Coaching can be either face-to-face, telephone or a combination of both, depending on organisational and individual needs. A face-to-face session is recommended at the start of a programme.

Programme length is also tailored to meet organisational and individual needs.

A typical programme may include:

Three face-to-face coaching meetings:

• During pregnancy, prior to maternity leave
• On return to work
• Three to four months following return
  

And up to 4 telephone coaching sessions:

Two telephone coaching sessions during maternity leave to help to make the transition smooth in terms of adjusting to her new role and returning to her work role with a new perspective.

Two telephone coaching sessions following the final face-to-face sessions to promote ongoing career development.

Standards and evaluation

We evaluate the success of coaching throughout the programme, using the organiation’s goals for the coaching programme as part of this process.

All our coaches receive professional supervision for their maternity coaching practice.

We also conduct an organisational feedback process so that the woman’s experience can enrich and inform the employer’s maternity policy through a confidential channel.