Navigating Your Career During Pregnancy & New Motherhood

When I became pregnant, all the ideas about how I would navigate my career during that time went the complete opposite direction than I expected.

Severe morning sickness made it difficult for me to teach, planning my maternity leave was met with a slew of opinions from management about what they thought was best, and going back to work post baby brought up a lot of emotions about my role as a mother and my role in my career. Even now, 15 months into motherhood, I still struggle with work / mom balance and find that I’m constantly questioning if I’m making the right decisions.

Through conversations I’ve had with the women on Expectful’s platform, I’ve learned that figuring out how to handle our careers during this transitional period is overwhelming for the majority of us. Seeing that all financial and personal circumstances are unique, it’s difficult to understand what we need, what our options are and how to talk about the emotions and identity issues that come up as a result of all of this.

Looking back on my own journey, I think it would have been beneficial to know other women’s stories about how pregnancy and new motherhood transformed their careers, whether that meant them becoming stay at home moms, working less or changing the way in which they work. That’s why I’m so excited to host this month’s Expectful Expert Chat, Navigating Your Career During Pregnancy and New Motherhood with expert, Dr. Lauren Brown. Lauren is a licensed clinical psychologist who works closely with pregnant women and new moms and a big topic in her sessions is how to confront career issues. We’ll be discussing topics like when it is necessary to tell coworkers, concerns about jeopardizing potential career opportunities, financial considerations, making a decision to return to work or stay at home, concerns about sustaining previous level of performance and pumping at work to name a few.

Expert: Dr. Lauren Brown

Dr. Lauren Brown is a licensed clinical psychologist and owner of Concord Therapy LLC in Concord, Massachusetts. She counsels women and their partners on fertility and family planning, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum health, and work-life balance. She helps individuals recover and sustain a healthy sense of self and well being after the major life changes of child loss, child bearing and child rearing. Dr. Brown has broad expertise in women’s issues of all kinds, with specialized training in crisis, grief, and trauma support. She has presented at National conferences and to general audiences speaking on the topics of perinatal mental health, gender identity, countertransference, and suicide prevention. Dr. Brown uses an integrative approach to treatment, drawing on clients’ needs and personal preferences. Her style is warm, authentic, and nonjudgmental, focusing on one’s inherent strength and wisdom in guiding their healing journey.

Host: Anna Gannon

Expectful’s Community Guide and Editorial Lead. Anna is a new mom, yoga teacher and writer. Her work has been featured on The Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen, Yoga Today and Yoga Journal.