We provide support for the transition into motherhood, otherwise known as matrescence.
We do this through our workplace pledge and unique Matrescence Packs.
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“Investing in employee wellbeing can lead to increased resilience, better employee engagement, reduced sickness absence and higher performance and productivity.”
The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD)
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LET’S TALK ABOUT MATRESCENCE
Motherhood is a time of transition and with that comes a complex mix of emotions which all new mothers experience on some degree. This is known as Matrescence. Simply put, matrescence means the physical, psychological and emotional changes you go through after the birth of your child. This is tricky enough to navigate on its own, but can be even more stress-inducing when you add in the anxiety about going on and returning from maternity leave.
The Maternity Pledge aims to change this.
Our workplace pledge and complementary handbook encourage employers to support pregnant employees and new mothers, and our Matrescence Packs provide unique information and tools to help employees have a positive birth and navigate their own matrescence. Put together, the commitment of the pledge and tools that accompany it help your business to value its employees and have a productive and positive workplace.
You may be managing your first maternity leave as an employer or already have maternity practices in place. Wherever you are in your journey, by joining The Maternity Pledge you can proudly display and demonstrate your support and commitment to making your workplace one that values pregnant employees and new mothers.
And just a small note on the language you’ll find on the website and in the Matrescence Packs. The Maternity Pledge has made the decision to use ‘mother’ and ‘motherhood’ as inclusive terms. In 2019 UK law determined “Being a mother, is the status given to the person who undergoes the physical and biological process of being pregnant, carrying and giving birth to a child.” At The Maternity Pledge we extend that language to include those who adopt or go through surrogacy as well.
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SUSANNAH DALE, FOUNDER.
Susannah Dale, Founder of The Maternity Pledge spills the tea on how it all began…
What do you get when you join The Maternity Pledge?
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The Maternity Pledge Handbook helps you carry out The Maternity Pledge at work. Split into chapters for each of the five points of the pledge it includes guidance on how to conduct a successful maternity leave and return to work, what it means for you financially, supporting employees experiencing premature births or baby loss, communicating maternity leave with the rest of your workplace and helping your employee maintain an emotional connection to the workplace.
The Maternity Pledge Badge is for your website and social media to show your support. It underpins your workplace values and helps attract new talent to your business.
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These include our very own Matrescence magazine, feeding preference plan and postnatal plan. The magazine is packed with information from experts and advice from real mothers. It introduces the term matrescence and helps to signposts the thoughts and feelings a new mother may experience and the identity shift they will experience. It includes chapters on positive birth, expectation vs reality, the changing relationship with a partner, and more. The magazine also provides a support directory, podcasts and book recommendations and resources for further reading and research. These packs bring evidence based and lived experience together to create a genuinely helpful magazine and tools that don’t overwhelm expectant mothers.
We believe knowledge is power and the Matrescence Packs will help expectant and new mothers advocate for themselves during birth and empower them to take care of their own perinatal mental health. We recommend providing this pack about four months from the due date so they have time to digest the information, use the tools and do any further reading before the baby arrives.
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An extension of the Matrescence magazine, this club is a weekly newsletter to help maintain a new mothers identity in matrescence. Covering everything from the psychology of motherhood to wellbeing advice, to creative tasks, to self-care, style advice and boredom busters, as well as helping them navigate their way back into the workplace. It’s a brilliant, bite sized resource for new mothers.
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“Matrescence, the time of mother-becoming… changes occur in a woman’s physical state, in her status within the group, in her emotional life, in her focus of daily activity, in her own identity and in her relationships with all those around her.”
Dana Raphael (1926-2016)
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