Women and work: How to build healthy workplaces for mothers returning to work

Postpartum parents have a lot of things keeping them up at night: Babies who need near-constant feeding, changing and soothing (sometimes all at once). Bodies undergoing drastic physical and hormonal shifts¹ – while healing from painful deliveries. Minds adjusting to a rapid shift in identity, turbulent emotions and – if they’re among nearly one in four² Canadian mothers – postpartum depression or anxiety.

Another cause of insomnia? Worrying about the lack of support from the place they spend the majority of their day: Work. A mountain of workplace research shows that new parents are stressed about navigating this massive life shift from pregnancy through to the toddler years, when it comes to their jobs.

Ninety-five per cent of expectant parents reported receiving no formal workplace support, according to the 2021 Maternity Leave Experience Report³ from advocacy group Moms at Work. And 40 per cent of respondents said they considered quitting their jobs during the transition back to work, citing lack of flexibility and feeling out of step with their employers. Harvard Business Review reported taking time away to have a baby lessens the likelihood⁴ of promotion or pay raises.

“Becoming a parent is a life-defining moment,” says Dr. Niki Panich, a primary care physician at Cleveland Clinic Canada, the medical director for Manulife Group Benefits, and a working mother herself. “You’re trying to figure out how to take care of your child. You’re sleep-deprived and looking for peer support and someone to talk to. And you’re wondering whether returning to work is worth it financially –and how it will impact your family.”

All of that leads to significant wear and tear on mental health. According to Manulife Canada’s aggregate group benefits claims data, between 2022 and 2024, 20 per cent of women made mental-health claims in the six months after adding a new baby to their lives, a number that has grown since 2021. Of those women who made mental-health claims, 46.6 per cent hadn’t sought mental-health treatment in the year before pregnancy.

Organizations employing expectant and new parents should take notice, says Jennifer Foubert, assistant vice-president and head of product and growth for Group Benefits at Manulife Canada.

“All of this data highlights the need for employers to provide structured support and resources to help working mothers return to work successfully,” she says. “It provides a startling look at the lack of policies, processes and procedures surrounding maternity leave. Employers are missing opportunities to retain skilled employees and maintain diverse leadership.”

“During pregnancy and postpartum, women deal with fatigue, hormonal changes, soreness and breastfeeding challenges while they’re still healing,” says Shyna Asaria, a registered nurse with Maven Clinic, a virtual platform that specializes in women’s and family health across four major life stages. “It can be overwhelming, and there’s no guidebook explaining how to manage it all.”

Offering support across the pregnancy-to-parenthood continuum not only helps new parents thrive, Ms. Foubert says, it’s also a smart business decision that delivers returns in the form of higher retention, stronger morale and healthier, more competitive companies.

More and more, employees want to work⁵ at organizations that offer robust support for their health – and most are willing to change jobs to get it, even if it means lower pay. When a new parent opts not to return to their job, it can get very expensive for the organization, with onboarding, training time, lost knowledge, lower morale and reduced team cohesion ratcheting up costs, according to consulting firm Great Place to Work Canada⁶.

When they do return but aren’t fully supported in their health needs, it can quickly create issues: Untreated conditions like postpartum depression and anxiety can lead to absenteeism and presenteeism (showing up to work while unwell), according to findings published by The Lancet Psychiatry⁷.

Experts point out that there’s also a broader business opportunity at play: Research has shown that companies that prioritize gender equity tend to be more productive⁸, innovative⁹ and profitable¹⁰. “Employers have just not focused on this area and have overlooked it for many years,” says Ms. Foubert. “There’s much more that they can do, in terms of more robust plans, policies and communications. It’s going to impact the overall success of a business, and we know that organizations with diverse leadership outperform their competition¹¹.”

Thoughtful policies and programs can significantly ease the stress for birth parents and their partners navigating this life stage, as well as families going through adoption or surrogacy. In addition to considering updating benefits plans to cover practitioners like pelvic floor specialists and services such as postnatal yoga, experts recommend three key areas of focus:

1. Add inclusive accommodations

For new parents, many workplaces are filled with hidden barriers, both physical (such as lactation spaces that are either inadequate or nonexistent, or workstations that are uncomfortable for postpartum bodies) and cultural (such as stigma that positions new parents as distracted or of diminished capability). Because of this, forward-thinking employers are both normalizing the realities of postpartum life and providing spaces to talk about it openly. Employee resource groups (ERGs), for instance, can provide valuable peer support to help new parents feel connected rather than isolated. “We have certainly seen a large increase in the number of, and participation in, ERGs within organizations,” says Ms. Foubert. “They can be a fantastic mechanism for peer support and to create a sense of community and connection for employees who might feel isolated and overwhelmed.”

2. Offer flexible return-to-work programs

Flexible work policies, such as gradual return-to-work schedules, hybrid models, job sharing or options to rotate roles can help new parents balance caregiving responsibilities and career demands. “Employers who can accommodate a gradual transition back to work and demonstrate compassion will ensure they keep valued employees,” says Ms. Asaria. “Reassuring a new mother that her job is secure helps, too. It’s one less thing to worry about.”

Ms. Foubert points out that flexible work arrangements are relatively easy to implement.

“It’s not terribly costly for most organizations, but can be huge for individual employees, depending on their journey or challenges,” she says.

3. Make expert help available virtually

Access to on-demand virtual health and wellness care can remove barriers that keep struggling individuals from getting support.

“The last thing a woman who is still sore, breastfeeding and lacking sleep wants to do is to get dressed and go to a therapist’s office,” says Dr. Panich. “Virtual care reduces that barrier to access.”

Manulife Canada has partnered with Maven to add access to the virtual clinic as part of its benefits options for employers. The clinic offers resources and support across major life stages, including maternal and postnatal health. That includes virtual lactation consulting, doula support and return-to-work coaching. This allows employers to help reduce parental stress by providing what Ms. Asaria calls “a healthy middle ground.”

“It drastically changes a new parent’s life,” says Ms. Asaria. “There’s nothing like having someone say to you, ‘We understand this is a difficult time, but take my hand and we’ll get through it together.’ When you have that, it’s a very different outcome than feeling like you’re on your own to navigate parenthood.”

This story was originally published in The Globe and Mail on October 14, 2025.

This article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat a condition. If you have questions or concerns about your specific situation or are seeking medical advice, contact your medical doctor or your health-care provider.

A note about gender:
While we use the term “women,” “female,” and “men” and “male” in this article, we recognize that these terms are not inclusive of all gender identities and that the health issues addressed here may be relevant to individuals across the gender spectrum

Cleveland Clinic Canada:
Manulife is proud to have Cleveland Clinic Canada on board as Medical Director for our Group Benefits operations. Cleveland Clinic Canada has a wealth of global healthcare expertise and shares our goal to help Canadians live longer, healthier, and better lives. Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit organization that has been at the forefront of modern medicine since 1921. In recent years, Cleveland Clinic has worked with progressive companies in Canada and around the world to prioritize the health and well-being of their employees, customers, and communities.

Maven Clinic:
Maven is the world’s largest virtual clinic for women and families on a mission to make healthcare work for all of us. Maven’s award-winning digital programs provide clinical, emotional, and financial support all in one platform, spanning fertility & family building, maternity & newborn care, parenting & pediatrics, and menopause & midlife. More than 2,000 employers and health plans trust Maven's end-to-end platform to improve clinical outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and provide equity in benefits programs.