A Refreshingly Honest Take on Maternity Leave

This post originally appeared on Levo.com.

Two years ago seemed like one of the best and toughest years of Marissa Mayer’s life. Of course, you would never know it by looking at her. The woman has never looked frazzled in her life. The same week she was announced as the new CEO of Yahoo, she also confirmed that she was pregnant with her first child. A pregnant CEO? How can this be??? Can pregnant women do anything except complain about their feet swelling?? The media went wild questioning if she was truly up for the daunting role with a bun in the oven.

But most women were thrilled that a woman was going to prove that she could do both, especially one in a field like technology where men still dominate. Well, they were thrilled until Mayer started talking about her maternity leave. After the CEO announcement, she said in an interview with Fortune Magazine, ”My maternity leave will be a few weeks long and I’ll work throughout it.”

Maternity leave is a hot topic of discussion in this country, and not in a good way. Of the 185 countries or territories in the world surveyed by the United Nation’s International Labor Organization, the US is one of only two that doesn’t mandate some form of paid maternity leave for its citizens. American working women are often fighting for ten weeks off (the national average) and here was Mayer saying she barely needed two weeks. Plus, it didn’t exactly help that four months later, after banning the Yahoo work from home policy for employees, she built a nursery next to her office.

“The irony is that she’s broken the glass ceiling, but seems unwilling for other women to lead a balanced life in which they care for their families and still concentrate on developing their skills and career,” said Ruth Rosen, a professor emerita of women’s history at the University of California, to The New York Times in 2013.

(MORE: 10 Questions You’re Afraid to Ask About Maternity Leave)

This is why it was so refreshing when CEO Brit Morin, also a former Google employee like Mayer, and founder of Brit & Co. gave us her take on maternity leave as a fellow tech company head. Morin is expecting her first child this fall. Basically, she isn’t making any bold declarations about her maternity leave, which seems quite wise to us.

“I don’t even know that yet. I’m going to wait and see how it goes and play it by ear,” she told Levo. “I think there’s some sort of balance. You’re obviously building a business and leading a company, and for me being the face of the company is really important. But at the same time, you’re also a role model for other women in your company and in the industry. And in the end family should always come before work. And I really want to make sure that I’m conveying that message.”

When you’re in a position to determine your own maternity leave, it’s great because you can make the call, whether that be taking more or less time than average. But, you also have to do what feels right for you and then your company. And to say you aren’t sure seems pretty reasonable when you think about the dramatic change you’re going to be dealing with in the future.

Morin is not alone in waiting to see how she feels. Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, who is now pregnant with her fifth child, told Re/code, “I’ve already had four maternity leaves, and I’ve taken different amounts of time off with my four kids, depending on both my personal and work life.”

As more women in high profile positions take maternity leaves (of all different lengths) the discussion on this topic will continue to grow and become more open, which will hopefully lead to improvements in workplace culture.

(MORE: What to Expect When You’re Expecting at Work)