When a New Job and a New Baby Collide

Newly appointed Spanish defense minister Carme Chacon inspecting the troops yesterday. She is seven-months pregnant (credit: Associated Press)

It can take time to adjust once you head back to work after having a child, as we’ve discussed. Readers have said it helps to ease back in gradually, or at least use the goodwill you’ve accumulated to do the 5:30 walk of shame a few days a week.

But what about when career opportunity and pregnancy collide, and you are faced with a challenging new position and a new baby? This came to mind when I read about Carme Chacon, who was just appointed Spain’s first woman defense minister. She’s seven months pregnant, and according to this bio, single. In another example, the WSJ yesterday ran a profile of Sheryl Sandberg, formerly a vice president at Google, who just started as Facebook’s chief operating officer. She’s got an 8 month old (and a 3-year-old).

Of course, plenty of women surely find the transition easy, proving themselves at new jobs and handling the home front as well. And if you have a very high-level position, such as a country’s minister of defense, chances are you can afford ample childcare and outsource a lot of chores to make the day run smoother. But still, a new child is obviously a life-changing event. Plus, breastfeeding, midnight wake-ups and childcare concerns are not always conducive to putting in the extra time and energy a new job requires.

Readers, have you successfully handled a new, challenging position and a new baby at the same time? Any tips for moms going through it? Has anyone out there purposely turned down or put off a promotion or job at a new company when pregnant, because you thought it might be too much to handle?