--- title: How to Make Maternity Leave Work description: Begin your planning with a 'must-do' list canonical: https://time.com/3774744/make-maternity-leave-work/ author: Levo League article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-19T17:00:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:17.637Z og:title: How to Make Maternity Leave Work og:description: Begin your planning with a 'must-do' list og:url: https://time.com/3774744/make-maternity-leave-work/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d5c73c1bcde43e5/69878712f887dcdfdde8afd4/169270900-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=501&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 501 og:image:height: 282 og:image:alt: pregnant-businesswoman og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Make Maternity Leave Work twitter:description: Begin your planning with a 'must-do' list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d5c73c1bcde43e5/69878712f887dcdfdde8afd4/169270900-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=501&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Make Maternity Leave Work > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e94c2dff-0df3-46d3-b7b5-43b9c0108d00&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Netflix Is Offering A Year's Worth of Paid Maternity Leave [Watch (HLS stream): Netflix Is Offering A Year's Worth of Paid Maternity Leave](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JNDTCFU7.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2015-08-05. The video streaming company, which has yet to make a global profit, is offering its more than 2,100 employees a year's worth of maternity leave._ by [Corie Hengst / Levo League](https://time.com/author/levo-league/) ## Corie Hengst / Levo League Aug 19, 2015 5:00 PM UTC  Pregnant businesswoman working in office Pregnant businesswoman working in office Getty Images by [Corie Hengst / Levo League](https://time.com/author/levo-league/) ## Corie Hengst / Levo League Aug 19, 2015 5:00 PM UTC So you started a business. Over the years, you’ve spent countless hours creating a business plan, a website, marketing strategies, paying the taxman, perhaps hiring staff. You’ve been a busy bee, and now you discover you’ll be even busier—you’re pregnant! How will you handle maternity leave and sustain the business you worked so hard to grow? How will you make money? Fear not. Here, work/life balance experts and fellow [mompreneurs](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/08/24/mompreneurs/2694077/) share their best tips: It’s best to prepare for maternity leave in stages, beginning a couple months before the baby arrives, suggests Jennifer Martin, business development and work/life balance expert at [Zest Business Consulting](http://www.businessconsultingsanfrancisco.com/). Begin your planning with a “must-do” list. This will ensure you’re organized and caught up as much as possible, Martin says. **1\. Two months before maternity leave, hire an assistant and/or prepare staff.** Consider finding a virtual or in-person assistant who can cover for you while you’re away. Martin suggests an assistant site such as [Zirtual](https://www.zirtual.com/). This may be particularly helpful for solo entrepreneurs. Allison Flinn, [professional organizer](http://www.reclaimnc.com/) and business owner, hired an independent contractor when she found out she was expecting. “Prior to being pregnant, I worked alone… I had been wanting to hire additional help for awhile, but struggled with giving up control, but expecting a baby forced me to break out of my comfort zone and I’m glad I did. The independent contractor I hired still works with me.” It’s also important to train your existing team in your absence, says Jennifer Bernheim, president of [martinb+company](http://martinbpr.com/). “As a woman entrepreneur and a mother to (now) three kids (6, 4, and 1), I prepared for ‘maternity leave’ by fully preparing my team of consultants. I spent endless hours providing them with the resources needed to ensure that upcoming client deliverables would be met with success.” Expectant mothers should also document their process at work for the staff members who will be handling their workload, Martin says. **2\. One month before maternity leave, alert clients you’ll be away, and provide an alternate contact.** “Notify clients that you are leaving and will be less accessible, but give them a direct contact to whom they can feel connected in your absence,” says Deborah Sweeney, CEO of [MyCorporation.com](http://www.mycorporation.com/aboutus.jsp). “Do not pretend that everything is the same—it’s better to be upfront and give clients an alternative, great contact who can help them.” It’s important to create guidelines about who may contact you during maternity leave, and what is urgent enough to call or email you about while you’re gone, Martin says. “I call this a ‘must-talk’ list. If the issue isn’t on the list, don’t call,” she says. Also determine when you will be available and what mode of contact you will use (phone, email, text, etc.). **3\. Just before you leave for maternity leave, automate whatever you can.** Set up out-of-office alerts on your email account, and change outgoing messages on your phones, Martin says. She also suggests adding a calendar widget like [Calendly](https://calendly.com/) to your website so clients can self-book appointments for when you return. Solo entrepreneurs may find it helpful to hire a professional answering service, since they don’t have staff to take phone calls in their absence. “Your clients (or prospective clients) will appreciate a quick, professional phone conversation with a human being,” Martin adds. **4\. During maternity leave, find a balance and set realistic expectations.** As an entrepreneur, it’s difficult to temporarily disconnect from the business you worked so hard to create, but it’s all about [balance](https://www.levo.com/articles/career-advice/brit-morin-has-a-fresh-view-on-maternity-leave). “I admit that I didn’t totally ‘step away’ during my maternity leave because, in reality, the business is my baby, too,” Bernheim says. “I did greatly reduce my hours and managed from a distance, doing the very best I could in a sleep-deprived state, which included landing two new clients. Like most women business owners, you do what you need to do when you need to do it. \[But\] I enjoyed plenty of snuggle time with my little one, too.” Sweeney echoes that sentiment. “As a business owner, I do not feel like you are ever completely on leave. I definitely spent a lot less time in the office and I was less in touch with my team and clients, but I still interacted and stayed abreast of the goings-on of the company.” Last but certainly not least, Sweeney says, “Don’t overdo it. Trust others to support you—as you have probably done to them.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.levo.com/articles/career-advice/how-to-make-maternity-leave-work-as-an-entrepreneur) _originally appeared on_ [_Levo.com_](http://www.levo.com/) _More from Levo.com:_ * [10 Questions You’re Afraid to Ask about Maternity Leave](http://www.levo.com/articles/career-advice/10-questions-youre-afraid-to-ask-about-maternity-leave) * [Brit Morin Has A Fresh View on Maternity Leave](http://www.levo.com/articles/career-advice/brit-morin-has-a-fresh-view-on-maternity-leave) ## Transcript The US might be one of the stingiest developed countries in the world when it comes to maternity and paternity leave, but it seems entertainment giant Netflix has gone rove. What are you looking at? The video streaming company which has yet to make a global profit, is offering its more than twenty- one hundred employees a years worth of maternity and paternity leave. According to Netflix, parents can return part- time, full- time or come and go throughout the year and the company will quote Keep paying them normally. Netflix is even beating out some of the US' most profitable tech companies who have recently changed their policies to attract talent. Apple offers 14 weeks of maternity leave while Facebook offers 16 weeks. Such a generous policy is practically unheard of in the US. A country that doesn't even have a federal mandate for paid time off for new mothers. The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 only requires American companies offer 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Where as in some of the world's other big economies like the United Kingdom, Canada, and China pay Paid maternity leave can range between 14 and 40 weeks. 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