The Hidden Cost of Short Maternity Leave: Postpartum Recovery, Workplace Awareness & Why So Many Women Leave Their Careers

When I think back to my postpartum period, what comes first to my mind is not the sweetness of a newborn face, their smell, or the softness you might feel in your heart when you realize you have made them.

It’s the worries. The exhaustion. The physical pain. The tears.

The way my body felt both supernatural and broken at the same time.

And then, the pressure of knowing that I had just 3 months before I had to return to work and be functional again, long before my postpartum recovery had truly begun.

When I was told that here in the Netherlands, maternity leave adds up to 4 months, one before the due date and three after, instinctively it felt quite short, but then I thought that maybe mothers don’t need much longer. At the time, I told myself it would be enough.

I truly didn’t know what to expect, and the truth is that nobody prepares you for it.

And because society expects you to be ready again after only three months, you unconsciously push yourself to do that in such a short period.

It's only when you are in the tornado of those early weeks that you realize how unrealistic this timeline is, especially when returning to work after maternity leave means navigating physical healing, emotional upheaval, and profound identity shifts.

And not because you’re weak. But because you’re human, and you’ve just crossed the most profound thresholds of your life.

Going Back to Work

When I went back to work after my first child, I tried to be grateful. And I was partly grateful for having time for my own expression apart from being a mother, for kind colleagues, a flexible environment where I could use a room to pump, and people who truly wanted to make it easier.

And yet, no matter how supportive the atmosphere was, I still felt overwhelmed and confused inside. My baby surely wasn’t ready. My body still needed rest from the sleepless nights. My emotions were still on the rollercoaster caused by the postpartum hormonal changes, which often lead to postpartum mental health challenges we rarely acknowledge out loud.

But every morning, I forced myself back into focus mode, pretending I was fine because that’s what the world expected.

And to be honest, with my second child, things were even harder. She refused the bottle completely. We tried everything, all the possible suggestions and recommendations from specialists, friends, and family. She wasn’t ready and probably I wasn’t either. So, I took an extra month of unpaid maternity leave, stressing and worrying to make things work. As it could be something that you can make fit into a scheme.

As a result, I walked back into the office knowing my baby was at daycare drinking almost nothing, crying out to sleep, needing me in a way that no policy could stretch to meet.

And I still pushed myself. I still tried to function. Because what else do we do when postpartum support policies barely exist?

The Untold Truth

It took months before the truth caught up with me: the guilt, the overwhelm, the crash. I realized I had survived that period by disconnecting from my own pain. I made it work, but at a cost I didn’t understand much later. And I left my job.

And this is not just my experience. Many other women struggle with postpartum recovery while trying to maintain their careers.

Last month, I attended a workshop led by Kasia Pokrop, co-founder of 3mbrace health & Mamamoon. As she spoke, her words resonated so much with me, I felt like my whole body recognizing the truth she was speaking. A truth I had carried inside for years.

She mentioned that around 45% of women report their childbirth as traumatic, and postpartum depression affects one in five women, highlighting how significant postpartum mental health challenges truly are. And I felt a deep sense of validation rise in me. But what struck me the most was that 43% of high-skilled women leave their workforce after having children, not because they lose interest in their careers, but because workplaces are simply not structured to support who they have become. Without proper postpartum workplace support, the transition back to employment becomes a breaking point rather than a bridge.

The statistics stayed with me for days. It echoed my own story in a way that was almost uncomfortable. Not because it was new, but because it was finally being named.

3mbrace Health: A Revolutionary Mission

And this is exactly the 3mbrace Health mission. They bring these conversations into workplaces, teaching employers how postpartum recovery actually impacts women physically, emotionally, and psychologically.

They help companies rethink flexibility, reshape policies, and build cultures where returning to work after maternity leave doesn’t mean abandoning yourself in the process.

Listening to Kasia speak, I realized just how little space we’re given to integrate motherhood and work in a healthy way. And I realized something else: what happened to me isn’t a private story, it’s a systemic one.

This is why I felt called to share about 3mbrace Health's wonderful mission. Their work isn’t just informative; it’s urgent. It brings legitimacy to experiences that many women are still encouraged to downplay. And it gives workplaces the tools to stop losing talented, dedicated mothers simply because the system expects them to be whole again long before they are.

Postpartum Recovery Journey

My own postpartum work grew out of these very shadows, out of what I felt was missing, out of the loneliness that came from pretending I was okay when I wasn’t. 

In January, I’m launching a Postpartum Recovery for mothers with 6-8 clearance from doctors to start rebuilding strength.

It’s about reconnecting to a body that has changed, supporting emotional regulation, and navigating the return to life and to work, not from a push to go back to where we were before as soon as possible but from a grounded and compassionate place.

But the truth is, support should not rest solely on mothers seeking help. It should rest on the structures around them, changing too. That’s why I’m grateful for the work 3mbrace Health is doing and why their message deserves to be heard.

If my story resonates with you,  whether you’re a new mother, a soon-to-be mother, or someone who supports mothers, I hope this opens something for you. And if you’re part of a workplace, I hope it sparks a question:

What would it look like if we made space for the reality of postpartum, instead of expecting women to fit into a system that was never designed for them?

Because when we honor the truth of this transition, in our homes, in our bodies, and yes, in our workplaces, we don’t just support mothers. We strengthen entire communities.

Postpartum Recovery Journey