Try to give your employer as much notice as possible about your plans to return to work, and also let them know if your plans change.
Under employment law you are required to give 8 weeks’ notice, but try to give more wherever possible. If you decide to postpone your return to work, you must give 8 weeks’ notice before the original, earlier date.
If you are returning to work before the end of ordinary maternity leave, you’re entitled to return to the same job you were doing before you went on maternity leave. If you are changing trust/employer, speak to the Human Resources department at both your current and future employers, if the latter is known.
The prospect of returning to work can be daunting, whatever your level of practice. You may find that some skills come back quickly but that the fine details of others almost have to be learned again. Although you will want to maximise your time at home with your family, consider making a ‘how to’ list of procedures or conditions to help make you a bit more confident on your return to work. To help ease the transition, you might want to review your email inbox to prioritise urgent emails and have a look at what new and revised Green-top Guidelines and other national publications have been released during your maternity leave.
For more support on returning to work after a period of absence see the RCOG Return to work toolkit.
Childcare
Think about your childcare arrangements well in advance. This may come in many different forms. Local councils have lists of nurseries, playgroups, and childminders. Your employer may also have a childcare coordinator who can inform you if your employer has childcare provision, and what is available in your local area.
Breastfeeding and postnatal health
Breastfeeding mothers need a clean, private place to express and store their milk. Employers are legally required to provide suitable rest facilities for workers who are breastfeeding. Employers should provide a healthy and safe environment for nursing mothers to express and store milk. Some neonatal units may be able to provide expressed milk storage facilities – it is worth asking locally.
Importantly, new mothers are also entitled to have paid time off for postnatal care (i.e. health clinic appointments), as is the case for antenatal care visits.
Returning to work less than full-time
One of the considerations when you return to work is being full-time or less than full-time (LTFT). Choosing either option does not mean you are committed to that work pattern for the rest of your training or future career.
If you are a doctor in training and you’re considering returning to work LTFT, please read the RCOG’s guidance on LTFT training. Each Local Education and Training Board (LETB) will have someone responsible for LTFT training, who can confirm your eligibility to work LTFT. This does not commit you, but it is important to start the process in good time and initiate the paperwork needed, then your Training Programme Director will work out the logistics of the proposed post.
Sometimes, there may be a delay to the date you can resume working because your Training Programme Director will have to fit you into the rotation rather than putting you back into the full-time slot you were in previously. Some deaneries have their LTFT trainees in O&G working ‘slot shares’ of 50 to 90% full-time hours. This involves finding another LTFT trainee at approximately the same level of training to fill the slot with you. Then there’s negotiation with your employer to sort out the funding and the actual job plan.
Speak to other LTFT trainees to see what sort of job plan they have and whether something similar would suit your circumstances. Some LETBs have a contact group already set up. The RCOG has an LTFT Advisor who can offer advice if there are any difficulties.
Posts for LTFT doctors should reflect the same balance of work as those for full-time colleagues. Daytime working, on-call and out-of-hours duties will normally be undertaken pro rata, as all trainees need to experience the pressure and develop the decision-making skills that come from emergency work.