women entrepreneur pregnancy

How Women Entrepreneurs Manage Pregnancy?

A woman’s personality is strong and empowering. However, it is highly underestimated by whole lot of people and mostly by herself. The courage that she has to possess throughout her life are far and beyond strenuous hence no one should doubt her capacities and capabilities.

For all those who are planning to conceive and are entrepreneurs in any field, corporate, law, online business or even any small scale business, they are at a major decisive point in their lives….What to do? Having a family is equally important as establishing or running your own setup, large or small.

In India, if you are in a service then there are bright chances that you could entitle to 14-26 weeks maternity leave that may or may not be fully paid for. But coming to think of the entrepreneurs and the businesswomen it’s a mammoth task. Most women falling under this situation face this question in their lives and many find the answer whereas, many seek the answer. How to help yourself with your business when you can’t even see your feet?

There are no single best options since every pregnancy is different and every woman is different. Any choices you make will be yours for which you may or may not be judged and supported by the people who you surround you, starting with your spouse.

pregnancy

Image Source: Gb times

To every small question that comes to your mind, you need to first ask to yourself that what choices are you ready and comfortable to make ? You might be asking these questions to yourself. Well you can find your answers here.

  • Am I ready for this? How to handle this?

Handling the news of pregnancy could be strange or even difficult for some because it may not have been a planned one, instead rather surprising. But be open and positive to the bundle of joy with sensitivity and flexibility. Patience is the key, woman.

Thinking of consulting your spouse is always an understood way to deal with it. You have to think of the major plans and projects you have in hand and the ones you will shortly deal with and assess your requirement at the office or at the workplace. Even if working from home, you need to make amendments, huge ones in your daily schedule.

  • Who all to tell?- Employees and Clients

Firstly, prepare yourself to face the world and pregnancy itself. It could be strange or awkward for some, to inform your employees about your pregnancy but timely information would help them manage their schedules for work accordingly.

Whereas, you should think as to when and which, if at all, clients you have to inform     about your pregnancy. They could be the ones you are currently working with or perhaps have future plans with.

  • How supportive will my family be of my work during pregnancy and post delivery?

It is a very tough thing to reckon with during pregnancy and post delivery- having family’s faith in your decisions. Your husband can be your support system in whatever you do. You have to actively initiate conversations with your spouse pertaining to such issues. If both of you unanimously decide on something…well, nothing like it!

  • How to maintain my work hours/ shifts?

Cut yourself some slack. It’s just the right amount of balance you need to maintain during pregnancy for obvious reasons. Working as a part of the choice that you have made becomes equally important and may even satisfy a woman even during this state but then don’t load yourself with work since that will in most cases adversely affects both mother to be and the baby inside. Remember to rest.

  • How to be a good boss when pregnant?

Being pregnant and working and holding the position of the boss is like having a double or a triple duty. Having a balanced mind is never possible for a person all the time and especially so during this state, losing your track of mind can actually piss off your employees. Take proper rest and meditate or just spend some time alone. If it can help, talk to somebody who can make you feel better about yourself and in fact, don’t hesitate to talk to any employee.

  • How many and when can I take leaves?

Pregnancy requires a lot of visits to your gynecologist/ obstetrician and when you are asked to take rest, then you must adhere to taking rest since this will cause a direct effect on you fetus’ growth and development. When you are pregnant, it doesn’t matter to your fetus what profession the mother is in, it needs it’s regular diet, check up and healthcare for which you will have to take a day or sometimes days together off from work.

Here you again have to take decisions since there are no choices left in this regard. You need to sit back and look at your highly important schedules and can save time for leaves accordingly.

Consulting your doctor is the best option here.

pregnancy entrepreneurs

Image Source: Fannemwambi

  • What all I can do to avoid work and pregnancy related stress?

It is of high priority that you do not allow yourself of any kind of stress for a healthy living pregnant or not. Burdening yourself with extra work can cause you a lot of stress which is of course very harmful for the fetus. To avoid these issues-

  • Take some time out for yourself and do some meditation to synchronize your mental, physical and spiritual balance along with your baby’s growth.
  • Yoga is always applauded as perhaps the best way to stay healthy and stress free.
  • Practice some spiritual activities like reading the holy books or the books on encouragement that you may prefer.
  • Visit places you find peace in like shrines or temples or an art gallery or any such place of your choice.
  • Talk to your elders or friends and have deep discussions on topics of your choice.
  • Do some gardening with very light stuff involved like watering the plants, etc.
  • Watch light-hearted movies but not too much with some snacks of you liking.
  • Pamper yourself with some pedicure and manicure and get some massage done.
  • Do some light shopping.
  • Can I really work from home?

Working from home is an idea that you can welcome since it will bring more time for you to spend with yourself and the baby growing inside of you. It is again up to you to decide if your presence in your workplace is of utmost importance or you can make someone in-charge back at office to act in our place while still keeping the ultimate authority in your hands.

  • Managing baby and work post delivery?

Most businesswomen who are expecting babies must be sharing the same concern. But prioritizing your life and work schedule is the key baby first and then work or both simultaneously. You need to have a supportive person around you all the time. It could be your husband, your mother or mother-in- law or a maid. Postnatal period needs most care as the new mother needs to keep herself well and most importantly keep the baby at her best, nursing the baby and self care consumes mostly all the time. Initials days will require you to take care of the child and the child itself. But all those who are adamant to go back to the work, be selective about the work you do and first and the foremost thing should be at the approval of your doctor. Think about your baby’s nursing times, bottle feeding or breast feeding, diapering, etc.

At the end, the suggestions you must not forget:

  • Be ready to take planned decisions and not at random, unless needs arise.
  • Take in account for a support team at the office, talk to them and share your concerns and they should be the ones who can manage the clients a month or two before and after delivery.
  • Plan a schedule of next one year to come for your convenience, pre-planned structure will be of great help to you.
  • Start working already on the delegation of work for time post your delivery. Do it even at the micro levels so that the work is allocated properly and does not suffer in your absence.
  • Allocate a regularly visiting team member to brief the work at your place.
  • Get support system at home as well, like a paid helper for your personal issues.
  • Consult your doctor before going back to work.
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