6 Reasons I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of “The Pregnancy Pause”

So if you haven't heard, creative agency Mother New York designed The Pregnancy Pause (ThePregnancyPause.org) to help moms who spent time away from the office, return to the workforce. What they do is make "Mom" an official job title, at an official company with over 10,000 employees, with official responsibilities. Although many women may explain their time away from the office well, I'm not sure how many actually lists it as experience on their resumes. Here are 6 reasons why I am so in love with this brilliant idea:

1. It unifies moms who have put their careers on pause to raise their kids.
Every new mom faces this dilemma, and based on what they feel is best for their family, makes this hard decision. As much as there is plenty of mom-shaming between working moms and stay-at-home moms (different story for a different day), one thing we can agree on is that deciding to extend your maternity leave and raise your kids should not penalize the career you fought hard to build. Every mom who made that decision is basically on the same boat. The Pregnancy Pause gives moms a unified front, showing employers the Pregnancy Pause is an official thing, not just a decision one family makes but a decision all families need to make. It gives mom's a unified voice and sends the message, we ARE still working. The mantra of The Pregnancy Pause is that maternity leave is a full time job. So true!

2. It provides support for moms trying to get back into the workforce.
Being a mom comes with many hard decisions, some of which are: If I have stopped working, should I, when should I, and how is it possible to get back into the workforce? Many moms hesitate to take that step. First of all, there is all that explaining that needs to be done. Why is there a gap in your employment? Why did you make the decision to stop working? Then there is the question of whether you can get back on track where your career was paused. AND then there is the financial question, will I get paid comparable to where I left off?

The Pregnancy Pause is designed to provide support for these moms, making the thought of returning to work less daunting. You can list The Pregnancy Pause as experience in your LinkedIn profile and even highlight any of the countless responsibilities and skill sets that come with raising children. On the Pregnancy Pause website there's a toolkit you can download with a resume template. Not only that, you can list a phone number as reference for prospective employers. When they call, they will receive this prerecorded message:

Hello, you’ve reached The Pregnancy Pause. You must be calling about a candidate’s resume that has mentioned her time spent here. While here, she spent innumerable hours raising a child, which has surely offered her invaluable experience as a prospective employee. Visit our website ThePregnancyPause.org to learn more, and remember, maternity leave is a full-time job.

3. It showcases this “gap” in employment in a dignified way, rather than a shameful way.
Showing an actual job with a continuous timeline makes it easier for moms to talk about their time away from paid workforce. It allows them to actively displaying this time of their career. It’s there in the open, no need to shy away from it or gloss over it. The skills you acquired over this period can be discussed openly. With The Pregnancy Pause, there is NO gap because you never stopped working.

4. It will make this decision easier for families and moms, if extended maternity leave becomes an integral part of a woman’s career path.
The faster employers can get with the program and view The Pregnancy Pause as legitimate job experience, the easier it is for women to make these decisions. They won't have to feel like they are choosing between career and family, because this period of time caring for their family is part of their career. Just as pursuing your own entrepreneurial venture or returning to school is an integral part of one's career and not so much a gap in employment, motherhood can also be viewed that way. That means when new moms decide to extend their maternity leave, they do not need to feel like they are giving up on their careers. Now this will take time and is a big shift in mindset for the corporate world, but The Pregnancy Pause is a good step in that direction.

5. It gives childcare and unpaid domestic work a value.
We still may not be able to put a price tag or economic value on childcare and housework, or the many jobs a stay-at-home mom actually entails (although there are many articles attempting to do so). However, it is a start in giving domestic work perceived value. You want equality in the workforce? You have to also stop penalizing a mom for extended maternity leave. Allowing The Pregnancy Pause to sit proudly on ones resume shows that this period of a woman's life is just as valuable as any other period she spends in a job or in school. That is a very powerful message.

6. It opens up the conversation of the inadequacy of maternity leave policies in the United States.
When prospective employers click the link to The Pregnancy Pause, they will be directed to a page that explains why many new moms feel forced to leave their jobs in the U.S. The reason being that federally protected maternity leave in the U.S. is only 12 weeks unpaid, which is not enough. Women have been saying this for years. On top of that, U.S. is the only country among 41 developed nations that does not mandate any paid leave for new parents, according to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/26/u-s-lacks-mandated-paid-parental-leave/

Watch the video of how it works here: