When a woman leaves an organisation after maternity leave, the conversation often moves quickly to her replacement.
Who will take over her responsibilities? How quickly can we recruit? What will it cost to fill the role?
But there's a question that doesn't get asked nearly enough.
What could we have done to keep her?
Because when an experienced employee leaves, an organisation doesn't just lose a person. It loses knowledge, relationships, experience and capability that can take years to rebuild.
And increasingly, the evidence suggests that what happens around maternity leave and the return to work deserves far more attention from employers.
How many women are we actually losing after maternity leave?
Research published in 2025 by Pregnant Then Screwed, in partnership with Women in Data, estimated that up to 74,000 women a year could be pushed out of their jobs because of pregnancy or maternity leave in the UK.
The research also found that:
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12.3% of women surveyed reported being dismissed, constructively dismissed or made redundant during pregnancy, maternity leave or within a year of returning.
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35.9% reported feeling sidelined or demoted because of pregnancy or maternity leave.
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Around one in five women who reported a negative workplace experience left their employer.
These figures are based on survey research, with the annual job-loss estimate extrapolated from the findings. They nevertheless point to a significant problem in how pregnancy, maternity leave and returning to work are experienced.
And the impact goes beyond women losing their jobs.
Research from Careers After Babies, based on a survey of 848 women, found that 85% of respondents had left full-time employment within three years of becoming mothers, despite 98% saying they had wanted to return to work.
Leaving full-time employment isn't necessarily the same as leaving an employer. Some women move into part-time roles or make changes they actively want.
But the findings raise an important question.
How many women are changing their careers because they want to, and how many are doing so because the working environment no longer feels sustainable?
For organisations investing heavily in attracting, developing and promoting female talent, that's a question worth asking.
What does losing an experienced employee actually cost?
The most visible costs of employee turnover are usually recruitment fees, advertising, onboarding and training.
But those are only part of the picture.
Imagine an experienced manager earning £60,000 a year leaves six months after returning from maternity leave.
The organisation now needs to recruit someone with comparable experience.
There's the cost of finding that person. The time spent interviewing. The work redistributed across an already busy team. The months it may take for a new employee to become fully effective.
And then there are the things that are much harder to put a number against.
The client relationships she built.
The knowledge she carried.
The colleagues she supported.
The understanding of how things actually get done.
These aren't necessarily costs that appear neatly in a spreadsheet. But they are real considerations when assessing the impact of losing experienced people.
And importantly, the organisation may already have invested years in developing the very capability it is now trying to replace.
So before calculating the cost of recruitment, perhaps we should be asking about the cost of retention.
What would it have taken to support that employee to stay?
Not every departure is avoidable, and not every woman wants to return to the same role or organisation.
But where someone leaves because the return to work was poorly managed, that's a potential organisational failure worth understanding.
Why better maternity policies aren't enough
Many organisations have made genuine progress in their maternity policies.
Enhanced leave. Improved pay. Flexible working arrangements. More clearly defined processes.
These things matter.
But a good maternity policy doesn't automatically translate into a good experience of returning to work.
And this is where the latest UK research becomes particularly interesting.
In October 2026, government-commissioned research into pregnancy and maternity workplace experiences highlighted the importance of line managers.
The research identified manager capability, awareness, communication and the consistent application of policies as important factors shaping parents' experiences of unfair treatment.
It also found that weak or inconsistent communication during maternity leave and on returning could contribute to feelings of exclusion and uncertainty.
This matters because it shifts the conversation.
The question isn't simply whether an organisation has a maternity policy. It's whether its managers know how to support someone through the transition.
A manager might understand the legal requirements around maternity leave but feel far less confident having conversations about workload, changed priorities, flexibility or confidence on return.
And without that capability, even a well-intentioned manager can get things wrong.
The return to work is more than a logistical transition
When organisations plan for someone's return from maternity leave, the focus is often practical.
What date are they coming back?
What hours will they work?
What projects will they pick up?
Has their equipment been arranged?
All important questions.
But they don't necessarily address the experience of the person returning.
She may be navigating a significant change in identity, priorities and responsibilities.
She may be wondering whether she's still as capable as she was before.
Whether she wants the same things from her career.
Whether she can realistically meet the expectations she previously placed on herself.
And whether her organisation still sees her in the same way.
These questions don't mean she's less ambitious or less committed.
They mean she's navigating a significant life transition alongside her working life.
And if nobody acknowledges that, it can become a very lonely experience.
This is something I explore in more detail in The Transition Doesn't End When You Return to Work.
What can employers actually do differently?
Supporting women through the return-to-work transition doesn't necessarily require an expensive new programme.
But it does require intention.
1. Prepare managers before someone returns
Don't assume that because someone is a good manager, they automatically know how to manage a maternity return.
Give managers practical guidance on communication, workload planning, flexibility, career development and how to have conversations without making assumptions.
2. Start conversations before the first day back
The first meaningful conversation shouldn't happen when someone walks back into the office.
Discuss expectations, responsibilities and any changes to the role in advance.
And importantly, ask what support the employee would find useful rather than deciding on her behalf.
3. Treat the first few months as a transition
Returning to work isn't a single event.
A structured approach might include an initial conversation, regular check-ins and a review after three months.
Not to monitor whether someone is coping, but to create opportunities to identify and resolve problems before they become reasons to leave.
4. Keep career conversations alive
One of the risks of maternity leave is that assumptions begin to replace conversations.
She probably won't want to travel anymore.
She might not be interested in promotion.
Perhaps she's looking for something less demanding.
None of these decisions should be made for someone.
Ask about her ambitions. Discuss opportunities. Give her the same access to development and progression as before.
5. Measure what happens after maternity leave
Many organisations track maternity return rates.
But returning isn't the same as staying.
What proportion of employees are still with the organisation six or twelve months later?
Have their responsibilities changed?
Are they progressing?
What are returning employees saying about their experience?
These measures can help organisations understand whether their policies are translating into meaningful support.
The business case for supporting maternity returners
There is a human case for improving the experience of women returning from maternity leave.
There is also a business case.
Organisations spend significant time and money attracting experienced people, developing leadership capability and building teams.
Losing that experience creates disruption and potential financial costs.
Investing in manager capability and structured return-to-work support is one practical way to address avoidable retention risks.
It won't prevent every resignation.
But it can help organisations identify problems earlier, support employees more consistently and make better-informed decisions about how they retain talent.
And when the alternative may involve replacing years of accumulated knowledge and experience, that investment deserves serious consideration.
Perhaps the real question isn't whether organisations can afford to support women returning from maternity leave.
It's whether they've properly considered the cost of not doing so.
How The Parent Shift supports organisations
At The Parent Shift, I work with organisations to improve how women are supported through maternity leave and the return to work.
My focus is on the part of the transition that can be overlooked: the conversations, expectations, confidence and changes that sit behind the practical arrangements.
This includes supporting managers to feel more confident navigating maternity returns, and helping organisations think more intentionally about the experience they're creating for returning employees.
If you're an HR or People leader looking to strengthen your approach, I'd welcome a conversation.
Explore support for organisations or book a conversation with me.
Sources and further reading
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Pregnant Then Screwed and Women in Data — State of the Nation 2025 research
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CIPD — Response on enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers
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UK Government — Pregnancy and maternity: workplace experiences of parents, October 2026