What are some of the challenges new parents face when going back to work and how can they overcome them?

• Aniya Faulcon
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Aniya Faulcon is The Spark Host/Producer for WITF. She has a passion for shining a light on unique people, experiences, and perspectives within the community.
  
  Previously she worked as the People and Social Trends Reporter/Video Anchor for LancasterOnline | LNPNews. During her time there, she created video packages, provided Facebook Live coverage at community events, and wrote data-driven stories with census data and feature stories on local leaders, non-profit organizations, events, and people with unique talents and experiences within Lancaster County.
  
  Aniya also worked at WMAR ABC 2 News as a Sales Assistant and at the AFRO American Newspapers as an Executive Assistant and Media correspondent. Aniya interned at WEAA Gospel Grace 88.9 and worked at her alma mater’s radio station, WWPJ at Point Park University, where she gained skills and a passion for radio.
  
  Aniya grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended the Baltimore School for the arts for high school with a concentration in acting. She continued to hone her skills and passion for storytelling and later graduated from Point Park University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Broadcast Reporting. Aniya is eager to continue her journey with storytelling in her role with WITF, as she aims to shed a light on real people and real stories within Pennsylvania in a variety of mediums.

 Kaiti Sullivan / for NPR

Casted CEO and Co-Founder, Lindsay Tjepkema, left, leads a senior leadership meeting at the Casted office building on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 in Indianapolis, IN.

Airdate: Friday, September 2, 2022

Returning to work has been known to be difficult for new parents for a wide variety of reasons: lack of sleep, implicit biases that new parents face, finding the time and space to pump breast milk, postpartum, hormonal changes, separation anxiety and guilt, getting back in the swing of work duties and schedules, and so much more.

According to Parents.com, women are three times more likely than men to have to leave the workforce due to pandemic-related child care demands.

Lori Mihalich-Levin, CEO of Mindful Return and advocate for working parents said, it’s important that new parents connect with other parents who are returning to work, talk to a therapist, or social worker to receive support and normalize the stresses and fears that one may be facing alone.

She also advised for parents to take parental leave, as it is necessary for recovery and can help destigmatize caregiving for both men and women.

“I’d say that you shouldn’t feel any guilt about wanting to start your baby’s life off on a healthy foot and to recover yourself. So I’d say, ditch the guilt. This is a major life event and the work will be there and you’ll be okay if you take some time to pause,” Mihalich-Levin said. ” When it becomes completely normal for a new parent, whether a man or a woman to take a leave, then there will be less discrimination against women in the hiring process.”

She said a good parental leave policy is gender neutral and provides about six months in paid leave. If your job doesn’t have this kind of parental leave policy, she advised that people create working parent groups to seek change in their workplace or connect with local advocacy groups to make a difference.