How Long Should a New Mom Take Off From Work?

Family and Medical Leave Act

• The Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, is a federal law. FMLA allows eligible employees of all public agencies and private sector employers who employed 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year to take 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period. FMLA, which is unpaid leave, covers childbirth, new adoption or foster care placement. You are eligible for FMLA if you have worked at least 1,250 hours for the eligible employer during the 12 months before the start of leave. While on leave, you will maintain your any group health insurance coverage and your employer must hold your job for you. You must follow your company̵7;s policies regarding FMLA.

Things to Consider

• A woman who is a free-lance writer or self-employed business owner may have options that a woman who works for someone else does not. In some cases, you might be able to take your child to work with you, for example, or do your writing when the baby sleeps. If you are breastfeeding, you̵7;ll probably want to explore what you̵7;ll need to pump at work well before your scheduled return. Allow enough time to establish a routine with your baby -- remember, each child is different, and your baby may need more or less time to develop a schedule.

Finances

• Money is often the biggest issue when it comes to going back to work. Ideally, you̵7;ve put enough extra aside to carry you through the period when you won̵7;t have an income. Since FMLA is unpaid leave, you can̵7;t count on that for financial support, but in most cases, you can use your sick time and vacation time while you̵7;re on maternity leave. About half of all first-time mothers in the U.S. have paid leave after childbirth, according to a June 2013 article in ̶0;Working Mother.̶1; You may also be eligible for short-term disability in some cases, according to the U. S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

Your Health

• Health issues can affect your return to work. If your baby was born by cesarean section, you̵7;ll need time to recover from the surgery. Follow your doctor̵7;s instructions after a cesarean. Some women develop complications such as post-partum depression, and almost every new mom has some degree of sleep-deprivation. If you try to go back too early, you could be creating problems for yourself or your baby, according to ̶0;Working Mother,̶1; which notes that a too-early return to work can cause women to stop breastfeeding, which affects the baby's immunity.

Longer is Better

• There is no ̶0;right̶1; answer to the question of how long, but the MCHB notes that longer leaves are better for both mom and baby. The MCHB reports that from 2006 to 2008, slightly over 70 percent of employed women took maternity leave for their last pregnancy. The average length of maternity leave was 10.3 weeks. Two-thirds of women who took leave had some portion of their leave paid for. Almost 25 percent of women took more than two months of maternity leave. About one-third of employed women, however, did not take a maternity leave at all.