Postnatal depression: what you need to know when returning to work
Published: 17 Jul 2024
Unfortunately, postnatal depression affects many women. A study by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists found that eight in ten women surveyed had had at least one experience of challenging mental health during or after their pregnancy.
For some women, being back at work can aid recovery but for others, they’re not able to return to work for some time. Our helpline regularly takes calls from women suffering from postnatal depression who worry about their return to work. There aren’t always straightforward answers, but there are ways to manage a return to work that may make it easier:
- Where possible, keep in touch with your employer. Having regular contact allows you to explain your worries and your wishes, and helps you prepare for your return to work together. When you’re on maternity leave, your employer should keep reasonable contact with you. It may count as unlawful maternity discrimination if they do not. We have more information on pregnancy and maternity discrimination here. If your employer agrees, you can also come to work up to 10 Keeping In Touch (KIT) days without your maternity leave or pay stopping. If you’re able, it can provide a way to maintain contact with your team, which may reduce concerns. Please see here for more information.
- There are options available that mean you do not have to return to work straight away after the end of your maternity leave:
* You can ask to add any annual leave you have accrued during maternity leave to the end of your leave.
* You may also be able to ask for parental leave. It is unpaid and only lasts a limited time – a maximum of 4 weeks per child per year under the statutory scheme – but if you’re not able to face returning to work, then it is worth exploring if you qualify.
* You can also ask for a phased return to work possibly using any accrued annual leave you have.
- Another option to consider would be to ask for flexible working and there are many types of flexible working patterns to consider. You can find lots of information on your rights and how to make a request in our Flexible Working section.
- If you’re hoping to return from maternity leave with a different working pattern, it is important that you do not wait until the end of your maternity leave before you make your flexible working request as your employer has two months to respond.
- When you get back to work, you have health and safety protection for six months after giving birth and for as long as you are breastfeeding.
- Postnatal depression is an illness and you should be treated like a normal sick employee. This means you can get statutory sick pay (if you satisfy the conditions) but also that you are subject to your employer’s sick policy and so could potentially be dismissed for long-term absence just as another long-term sick employee would be. Postnatal depression does not necessarily give you additional protection against dismissal but do check our advice page as your employer still needs to discount pregnancy-related absences and the absence due to maternity leave, and must not treat you less favourably than they would treat a man who is absent from work for the same length of time due to sickness.
- Severe depression can amount to a disability so if you have told your employer that you are suffering from post-natal depression, you may potentially have rights under the Equality Act 2010 and ask for reasonable adjustments if your current working conditions would disadvantage you because of your post-natal depression.
If you are affected by postnatal depression then you might want to get in touch with PANDAS. PANDAS is a community offering peer-to-peer support for you, your family and your network. They have a helpline and various support groups. See the PANDAS website for more details.