LANCE FRY / Scroll Illustration

Rebounding after birth

Time to recover differs for moms

by Ryan Ball BAL03012@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

For some pregnant women, the question of, “How soon should I go back to work or school after giving birth?” looms.

“It’s entirely relative. I believe women should make their children their first priority. Their pursuit of vocation should be an individual decision based on that first priority,” Lisa Chiddix, a junior from Rexburg, said.

“It depends on the kind of work; for office work, they should wait six weeks. It also depends on the kind of delivery,” Donna McBRide, a registered nurse at the Madison Women’s Clinic, said.

“I personally would rather wait about two months. It’s important that you bond with your children,” Tammy Lee Boyle, a former BYU-Idaho student and mother, said.

There are certain laws women should be aware of that protect their rights and assure them their old jobs back when returning to work.

“For almost all professions, if you are employed by a company when you are pregnant, you will be entitled to at least 18 weeks ordinary maternity leave with the right to your job, provided you give your employer reasonable notice,” according to The British United Provident Association, an international health and care company with bases on three continents and more than seven million customers.

After the birth of the baby, if the mother has been with the company for at least a year she is entitled up to 29 weeks of leave.

If the mother would like to change the way she works, from full to part-time, she should approach her employer with a good reason and they must take her request seriously, according to BUPA.

“Nurturing her child should take precedence over everything temporal in her life. If she feels she’s nurturing her child in righteousness to the best of her ability and can extend herself professionally then maybe that’s another way she can serve God,” Chiddix said.