in my 33th week pregnancy, still have to work late almost everyday and weekend. Any moms in big 4 /public accounting can share what make you guys still stay in big4/public accounting after delivery? Thanks.

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I have three kids and I took the full maternity leave for each one. Take all the time you can upfront to care for your new baby. I suspect the firm will take you off all projects while you are out on leave. When you come back, be okay with saying no to ‘more’ work and help pick and choose the clients you want to be on. I worked closely with my career advisor and partners after each maternity leave to make sure I didn’t get immediately overwhelmed learning how to be a working mom. I now do the same thing for the new moms and dads on my team. Everyone will have clients they don’t particularly enjoy but hopefully you can have some say on what you work on! Congratulations on the baby!

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Wow, I never experienced this but as a young female I would see you as a superwoman honestly I wonder how women like you can go through this. I really wish the best to all (future & current) moms working and grinding out there 💕🙏

likeuplifting

I have twins and I worked until I was 1 week away from delivery - 37 weeks, and I am still in PA and they are now 13 years old. I stayed for money, flexibility, and stability. My firm didn’t even have maternity leave when I gave birth….. 😩 I am the major bread winner and could not afford to be a stay at home mom… nor did I want to be.

You should definitely put yourself first right now, you are going through a lot both physically and emotionally. You are going to get really tired during this last trimester, make sure you listen to your body and give it what it needs.

I wish you all the luck and best wishes I can send you, you are a superstar, congratulations, and it’s all gonna be great!

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Eww what firm?

That's too much stress for your body. Is your team / role that small, or are you just overstaffed? I would talk to a partner - tell them you love working for them, want to stay after the birth, but at this point want them to slow down the workload a bit. I don't see them saying no.

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I’d say don’t get too concerned with making decisions now. Whatever your perspective is, it is almost certainly going to change when the baby comes. Give yourself a chance to digest and evaluate then.

I’m a dad so slightly different but I’m still here for salary and career progression so that my wife can cut back on her work. That was not something she had planned on doing, but again, it changes after you meet your child and it’s very important to her now.

Also, some advice that we found very helpful - don’t feel bad if you are frustrated and not having fun the first couple months. Some people question if they’re a bad parent cause they don’t like waking up at 3 to a crying baby. Don’t worry, you’re not a bad parent if you feel that way. You’ll be a good parent by loving your child, and that has nothing to do with emotion. It’s through the sacrificial actions that you’ll choose to do each day (and have been doing for 33 weeks). Congrats!

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As difficult as PA can be, it also does give day to day flexibility and this is what helped me to stay. I was a new partner when I had my first so I had the advantage of a higher salary to help pay for a nanny. Having a flexible nanny was key to my sanity since I lived away from any family support. Had some hard times during peak project/sign off times but I got through and on a day to day basis I was able to flex my schedule to take my kids to appts, attend school events, etc. It’s definitely not easy but for me personally, industry just wasn’t appealing as I liked the variety of PA and clients and I’ve had the fortune to speed up and slow down at times. That was hard for me at first as a high performer but I learned that a long term career in PA has ups and downs and I didn’t have to always be top rated.
As much as my kids are the most important thing in my life, I needed to have the satisfaction and mental challenge of a career and I also wanted the extra financial security so my husband and I can retire early! But everyone has their own story and goals so my only advice is to give yourself time to adjust after your child arrives and don’t make snap decisions. It will feel overwhelming but don’t be afraid to ask for support and flexibility with your client load.

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I have to agree!! You are amazing for still going!!

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It is a great thing to stay home with your baby. If you don't want to, or can't do that, you could look for a role in core business services supporting your a practice.

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I’m currently on maternity leave so I can’t speak from experience yet but I do plan to return. I’ve already set the expectation I’m coming back but at part time schedule, at least to begin with. Right now the top reasons I see myself staying are the flexibility (work from home, reduced schedules, flex hours) and the compensation is pretty good at a senior manager level. Good luck and congrats!!!

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I have been back 3 days now after maternity leave and work is not busy yet (tax) and I legit don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m planning on going on a reduced schedule in January (can’t any earlier because we can’t take the salary hit yet).

I’m hoping that as we slowly get more busy I’ll also slowly figure it out? I know I’m going to give up my weekends and spread my week over all 7 days very quickly. I’d rather have evenings with my son every day than just spend 2 whole days with him.

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I’m hoping to be able to stick around because the relatively guaranteed raises every year are nice (many jobs it’s just whenever the feel like it) and the flexibility of non-busy season is unrivaled. I never had to take PTO to go to any of my many doctor appointments while pregnant and regularly just took Friday off because I front loaded my week. It’s all give and take and I’m hoping it pays off?

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I’ve stayed because of the challenges, opportunities and pay. Currently have a 2.5 year old and on maternity leave with my 2nd. After my first I found creative ways to spread my work out throughout the day so I got to spend time with my daughter during the times that mattered most for me (dinner/bedtime pre-COVID, breakfast/lunch & misc breaks post-COVID). Also I love how covid made having a family less of something to hide. My India team members now know they can schedule calls 8-9am, but that my daughter will be joining. 😂

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Also I found the blog and back to work after baby course on Mindful Return (www.mindfulreturn.com) to be incredibly helpful. It’s run by a female lawyer so much of her advice carries over to the accounting and professional services field.

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