Editor’s note
When I nailed a fantastic job overseas, then found myself pregnant within the first year, I panicked. I’d always dreamed of being a mum and I was in my 30s, but my fear was around convincing my telly bosses I could still excel at the job I loved.
I hid my pregnancy for five months – including over a dozen Melbourne Cup Carnival events – and finally told my manager in a marquee on the final race day. He wasn’t happy for me. I promised he “wouldn’t even notice” I was having a baby. I worked up until the week before I was due, took eight weeks’ maternity leave and was back at the office full-time.
My partner Conrad became a stay-at-home dad to our darling Cleo. Thankfully, this was something he loved and cherished, even joining a local mother’s group. Somehow, I breastfed my daughter for a year and worked long hours in an all-consuming role. To be honest, it was a bit of a blur. And I’m sad about that in terms of my early months with Cleo. But the pressure to not have my baby interfere in my corporate role was real.
Today, I have many wonderful women on my team and with any announcement of a pregnancy, it is first and foremost a celebration. When it comes to their return to work, I am as a flexible as I can be. And I’ve found that working mums are the most exceptional employees.
Conrad has been a great advocate of the joys of being the primary carer for a baby. He was happy to do it again with our second child and he’s encouraged other friends to do the same – and they have. But we’re both aware not every family has the choice for a parent to stay home, so we know we are fortunate.
When I read Jacinda Ardern’s wonderful announcement that she and partner Clarke Gayford are expecting a child in June, and “joining the many parents out there who wear two hats”, I gasped with excitement. “I’ll be Prime Minister AND a mum,” she said. And Clarke will be a stay-at-home dad.
It was groundbreaking, but she normalised the notion in one post. I couldn’t be prouder and happier for our leader – and for Clarke. Congratulations to you both!