Back from Maternity Leave, But Left Out of the Room
Returning to work postpartum wasn’t just a physical challenge—it was an emotional and professional uphill climb I wasn’t prepared for.
I walked back into a team of men.
No knowledge transfer.
No documentation.
No onboarding back into the flow.
Just silence—and the expectation that I should somehow “catch up.”
I work just as hard as my peers, but I’ve been:
Assigned low-priority work
Shut out of the very conversations I start
Given “light summaries” of decisions made in meetings I was excluded from
Interrupted, overlooked, and underestimated
And when my work started gaining visibility?
That’s when others stepped in to take ownership and recognition.
When I raised these concerns, I was met with quiet dismissal—“You're overthinking” or “It’s not intentional.”
But exclusion doesn’t need to be loud to be real.
I ask myself often:
Would they treat women at home like this too?
Or is it just easier to dismiss professional women—especially postpartum—because empathy isn’t seen as "productive"?
On top of it all, I’m a non-immigrant in a volatile job market.
I’m expected to be grateful, to not complain, to not make waves.
But I didn’t come back just to survive.
I came back to lead. To build. To be seen.
Here’s what helped me stay afloat:
✅ Finding allies outside my immediate team
✅ Documenting everything
✅ Therapy
✅ Mentoring other women (solidarity is strength)
✅ Speaking up—yes, even when my voice shook
To those going through this:
You are not the problem.
You are not weak.
And you are definitely not imagining it.
Being a postpartum professional woman in tech (or any field) often means climbing uphill while others pretend the hill doesn’t even exist.
But every day you keep showing up, that’s power. That’s resilience.
Let’s talk.
If you’ve experienced this—drop a comment, DM, or just react.
The more we speak, the less invisible we all are.
#PostpartumWorkLife #WorkingMothers #InclusionMatters #WorkplaceBias #WomenInTech #Leadership #ReturnToWork
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