You've sorted the childcare.
You've worked out your return date.
You've probably spent more time than you'd like thinking about how the mornings are going to work.
On paper, you're getting ready to return to work.
But there's something else going on.
Maybe you're worried you've forgotten how to do your job.
Maybe you're wondering how you're supposed to manage everything.
Or perhaps you're looking forward to going back, but there's this nagging feeling that something has changed and you can't quite put your finger on what it is.
And you're not really sure who to talk to about it.
This is where return to work coaching can help.
Not because you need someone to tell you how to go back to work.
But because sometimes you need space to work out what returning to work means for you now.
What is return to work coaching?
Return to work coaching is one-to-one support for women navigating the transition back to work after maternity leave or a career break.
It's not about someone giving you a list of things to do before your first day back.
And it isn't about teaching you how to be more productive so you can somehow fit everything into the same 24 hours.
It's about having space to think.
To explore what's changed.
To work through the things you're questioning.
And to make decisions about your career and working life with more clarity and confidence.
That might mean preparing for a conversation with your manager.
It might mean working through a loss of confidence.
Or it might mean exploring a much bigger question:
Do I actually want the same things from my career that I wanted before?
Coaching doesn't assume there's a right answer.
It's about helping you find your own.
Why can returning to work after maternity leave feel so difficult?
When we talk about returning to work, we tend to focus on the practical arrangements.
Childcare. Working hours. Keeping-in-touch days. Flexible working requests.
All important.
But they don't necessarily address what's happening underneath.
Becoming a mother can change how you see yourself.
Your priorities might shift.
Your confidence might feel different.
Your relationship with ambition, success or work might not be quite what it was before.
There's a term for the broader transition into motherhood: matrescence.
It describes the psychological, social and identity changes that can accompany becoming a mother.
And while the practical return to work happens on a particular date, that wider transition doesn't necessarily follow the same timetable.
You might return to exactly the same job and find yourself feeling strangely out of place.
Or you might still love what you do, but struggle to understand how it fits into your life now.
You can read more about this in Your First Day Back After Maternity Leave.
And it's worth remembering that not everything difficult about returning to work comes from within you. Sometimes the problem is workload, inflexibility, poor management or unrealistic expectations.
Good coaching should help you distinguish between what you want to work through personally and what needs to change around you.
What can a return to work coach help with?
Every woman's experience is different, but there are a few questions that come up regularly.
"What if I've forgotten how to do my job?"
You know, logically, that you haven't suddenly lost years of experience.
But that doesn't always stop you questioning yourself.
Coaching can help you explore where that uncertainty is coming from, reconnect with your strengths and work out what would help you feel more confident returning.
"What if I don't want the same career anymore?"
Perhaps you've always been ambitious.
You've worked hard to get where you are.
And now you're questioning whether you still want the same things.
That can feel uncomfortable, particularly when you've invested so much in your career.
Coaching gives you space to explore those questions without assuming that staying, lea