Returning to Work After Maternity Leave: A Psychological Guide for Organisations and Managers

Why is returning from maternity leave so demanding? Read about return-to-work plans, manager conversations and support steps organisations can take.

Imagine a new mother stepping into her workplace after months away. Her desk is in the same place, but there are new faces on the team, processes have changed and the project she left has been handed to someone else. At night she cannot sleep uninterrupted for more than a few hours; part of her mind is on her baby and the childminder, and part is on the question "Will I be as good as I used to be?" Meanwhile, the people around her tease, "Welcome back, how was the holiday?" In most organisations, a return from maternity leave is treated as an HR formality: the leave ends and the employee goes back to their job. Yet this period is a critical transition for both the employee and the organisation, and if it is not managed well it can lead to the loss of experienced employees, burnout and loss of trust. In this article I look at the psychological side of returning from maternity leave and the practical steps that HR managers, team leaders and employers can take.

Why Is Returning from Maternity Leave So Demanding?

Going back to work after maternity leave is not just returning to an office or a production line. During this period the employee goes through many changes at once:

• Identity change: The person is no longer just an engineer, operator or sales specialist, but also a new parent. Learning to carry these two identities together takes time.
• Lack of sleep and physical recovery: After birth the body may not yet have fully recovered; broken sleep directly affects attention and energy levels.
• Separation anxiety and guilt: Leaving the baby with a childminder, a nursery or a grandmother stirs up intense feelings in many parents.
• Anxiety about competence: Thoughts such as "Have I fallen behind?" and "Was the person who replaced me better?" can shake self-confidence.
• Logistical load: Setting up childcare arrangements, a breastfeeding or expressing plan, medical check-ups and the household routine again.
• Invisibility and fear of exclusion: Worry about being kept away from important projects, meetings or promotion processes.

Most of these feelings are a natural part of the transition and ease over time. But if the workplace is not supportive during this period, temporary difficulty can turn into a permanent break. I also look at the general effect of parenting and caring responsibilities on working life in the article on the double burden of working women.

Postnatal Mental Health: What Should Managers Know?

Mood swings are common in the postnatal period. In some mothers, however, symptoms such as intense sadness lasting weeks, loss of interest, hopelessness, excessive anxiety or difficulty bonding with the baby can appear. These symptoms can be related to postnatal depression or anxiety and require a specialist assessment.

A manager's job is not to diagnose. But it is important to notice the following changes and to start a gentle conversation:

• Marked and persistent tiredness or lack of motivation
• Tearfulness, irritability or withdrawal not seen before
• Serious difficulty concentrating and frequent mistakes
• Self-devaluing statements such as "I can't do anything right"
• Frequent, unexplained absence

These signs alone do not mean a mental disorder; they may also be related to other health problems or severe lack of sleep. The right approach is to show interest without judgement and, where needed, to make access to professional support easier. For more information on symptoms and routes to support, you can look at the article on postnatal depression. If the employee talks about thoughts of harming themselves or their baby, this is an emergency and 112 (Turkey's emergency services) should be called.

The Effect on the Business: Why Is Return a Retention Issue?

The period of return from maternity leave is a threshold that determines whether the organisation will keep an experienced employee for good. An employee who does not receive support during this period may, within a few months, consider leaving, moving to a role with less responsibility or giving up their career goals.

For the business, the cost is not only finding a new person. According to Deloitte's 2022 report based on UK data, about 40% of staff turnover costs are attributed to mental health problems (Deloitte, 2022). According to the same organisation's 2024 data, the largest component of the cost of poor mental health to employers is presenteeism, meaning coming to work but being unable to work at full productivity (Deloitte, 2024). An employee who returns to work sleep-deprived, anxious and unsupported may experience exactly this picture.

The general profile of employees in Turkey makes this period even more sensitive. According to Gallup's 2026 report, 66% of employees in Turkey say they experienced stress during a large part of the previous day (Gallup, 2026; 2025 data). New parents carry an additional adjustment load on top of this high level of stress.

Legislation and the Organisational Framework

Article 10 of the Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 provides that, when carrying out risk assessments, the situation of groups that require special policies, such as pregnant or breastfeeding employees, and of female employees must be taken into account. This means that the working conditions, the risks encountered and the work pattern of an employee returning from maternity leave need to be assessed separately. Article 4 of the law also places an obligation on the employer to consider an employee's suitability for the job in terms of health and safety when assigning tasks.

For details of rights such as the length of maternity leave, nursing leave, part-time work and unpaid leave, I recommend reviewing the current legislation with your legal department or an employment law specialist. Giving the employee clear, written and understandable information about these rights significantly reduces uncertainty during the return.

The World Health Organization's guidelines on mental health at work present reasonable accommodations for employees with mental health conditions as a strong recommendation (WHO, 2022). For an employee going through postnatal psychological difficulty, small adjustments to working hours, the distribution of tasks or the place of work are the practical equivalent of this recommendation.

What Can Organisations Do for the Return from Maternity Leave?

A well-planned return gives the employee the message "you still have a place here"; this message is one of the strongest foundations of long-term commitment.

An effective return process is planned before the leave begins and continues for several months after the return. The steps below can be adapted regardless of the size of the organisation:

Before the leave:

• Decide together which work and responsibilities will be handed over; answer the employee's question "What will I come back to?"
• Agree with the employee how communication will work during the leave. Some employees want to be kept informed of important developments, while others want to disconnect completely. Respect this preference.

During the leave:

• Give short updates at the frequency agreed in advance, without creating pressure. Team announcements, and informing them about new colleagues and important changes, reduce the feeling of unfamiliarity on return.
• Do not expect work from an employee on leave; do not make contact about non-urgent matters.

Before the return:

• Hold a return meeting a few weeks before the return. In this meeting you can discuss working hours, the distribution of tasks, any need to breastfeed or express milk, childcare arrangements and possible concerns.
• Where possible, consider options such as a phased return, flexible start and finish times, or a lighter workload in the first weeks.
• Prepare practical needs such as a clean, lockable and private space for breastfeeding or expressing milk, and a fridge.

After the return:

• Plan the first day and the first week: having the desk, equipment and system access ready is a small but powerful welcome message.
• Appoint a "return buddy"; ask an experienced colleague to provide information about changed processes and new team members.
• Plan regular, short one-to-one meetings with the manager for the first three months. The aim of these meetings is not performance monitoring but understanding how the adjustment is going.
• Do not exclude the employee from important projects and development opportunities by deciding on her behalf. Instead of assuming "she's got enough on her plate right now", ask the employee.
• If confidential psychological support is available, remind them of it. In a survey in Europe, 50% of employees thought that disclosing a mental health problem would harm their career (EU-OSHA, 2022); this is why emphasising confidentiality is important.

For managers: The World Health Organization's guidelines on mental health at work present mental health training for managers as a recommendation with strong evidence (WHO, 2022). Conversations with an employee returning from maternity leave are one of the areas where this training concretely pays off.

Imagine a woman working as a planning specialist at a logistics firm, preparing to return from leave. Three weeks before her return, her manager invites her to a short meeting, plans a flexible start time and an expressing break for the first month, and assigns a colleague to explain the new system changes on the team. At the end of the first week, a short chat asks "What went well, what was difficult?" None of these steps requires a large budget, yet they make the employee feel valued and safe.

Planning a similar return for fathers and other parents makes support something other than a practice aimed only at women and positions parenthood as an ordinary life stage for all employees.

Team Culture: Small Behaviours That Make the Return Easier

It is not only policies that determine the return process; the team culture the employee meets every day is just as influential. Jokes like "How was the holiday?", hints such as "You can't stay late like you used to, I suppose" or sarcastic comments about the expressing break can make the employee feel like an outsider and a burden. Remarks like these are often not meant badly; but when repeated, they erode the sense of belonging.

Managers can ease this process by briefing the team before the return: explaining when the employee will return, what flexibilities there will be in the working pattern in the first weeks and how the distribution of work will change prevents resentment within the team of the "why is there a different rule for her?" kind. When the reason for flexibility is explained openly, team members see it not as a privilege but as a kind of support that any of them may need one day.

Another important point is recognising the work of those who took on the employee's tasks during the leave. When colleagues who carried an extra load are not appreciated, unconscious resentment can build up towards the employee who returns. Distributing this load fairly in leave planning and thanking those who contributed keeps the balance within the team.

How to Get Started in Your Organisation

Needs analysis: Look at what proportion of employees returning from maternity leave in recent years left within a year, and at absence and short-term sick leave data after return. Confidential interviews with employees who have returned from leave show where the process runs into difficulty.

Programme: Based on the analysis results, plan a written leave and return policy, templates for pre-leave and return meetings, manager training, physical arrangements such as a breastfeeding space, and confidential individual support. You can see how a suitable structure can be built for your organisation on the corporate services page.

Measurement: Retention rate in the first year after return, absence, employee satisfaction and use of support services are monitored at regular intervals. The ILO lists absence, turnover, use of support services and employee surveys among monitoring indicators (ILO, 2026). If you are looking for a general framework for returning from long periods of leave, you can also look at the article on return-to-work programmes after long-term leave.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it right to contact the employee during maternity leave?

The frequency and form of communication should be agreed with the employee before the leave. Being informed of important developments can reduce the feeling of unfamiliarity on return; however, no work should be expected from an employee on leave and communication should not create pressure.

How long does it take to complete the return from maternity leave?

The adjustment process varies from person to person; for most employees, the first few months are the most intense. For this reason, return support should not be limited to the first day, but should continue for several months with regular manager meetings and, where needed, flexible arrangements.

What should I do if a new mother's performance drops?

First, assess the workload, the work pattern and any obstacles in the adjustment process together. A temporary drop may be related to lack of sleep and adjusting to a new routine. If there is marked and persistent difficulty, discuss reasonable adjustments and, where needed, refer her to professional support.

What should I do if I notice signs of postnatal depression?

Share the changes you have noticed calmly and without judgement, ask how she is and remind her that it is possible to see a mental health professional; do not try to diagnose. If the employee talks about thoughts of harming herself or her baby, the situation is an emergency and 112 (Turkey's emergency services) should be called. If there is a confidential support service in the organisation, it helps to explain clearly how to reach it.

• #maternity leave
• #return to work
• #working parents
• #human resources

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Eda Erkan Alapala

Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.

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