From Pause to Power. Reframing the Maternity Transition Through Coaching

Organisations invest heavily in attracting female talent. Yet, one of the most significant career transitions many women experience, the return to work after maternity leave, remains largely overlooked as a leadership development opportunity.

While often framed as a parenting issue, the maternity transition is a critical workplace consideration, especially when it comes to leadership development and talent retention. It is both a personal and professional turning point that can be reframed as an opportunity for women to grow, lead and thrive, rather than simply “return to work”.

Lee-Ann Drummond, Head of Faculty: Management and Leadership at SACAP, is particularly passionate about training and developing women navigating the maternity transition, through interventions such as coaching.

Drummond says, “the maternity transition is not only a personal milestone, it’s a leadership transition with real psychological weight. Women often experience shifts in identity, reduced confidence and uncertainty about career progression, and if organisations don’t recognise this, they risk losing talented and capable leaders at exactly the moment they need support, not less.”

With insights from her expertise in applied psychology, Drummond advocates leadership development during this key life stage. Without this support, this period can become a career ‘off-ramp’ where talented women disengage or leave the workforce altogether.

Coaching as a strategic lever for retention

As Drummond explains, the maternity transition presents both practical and deeply psychological challenges involving identity, self-efficacy, belonging and navigating changing workplace expectations. As an ICF-accredited leadership coach, she sees coaching as a valuable tool for leader identity development and navigating these types of leadership transitions.

Drummond says, “coaching should be positioned as a strategic investment, not a perk. When you invest in a woman’s leadership identity at this stage, you are investing in your organisation’s people, its leadership pipeline and its ability to retain talent it has already spent years developing”

Overall, coaching is an evidence – informed intervention that helps women reconnect with their strengths and professional identity and rebuild their confidence during a period of significant change. By focusing on unlocking potential, it also empowers women to navigate workplace dynamics and organisational expectations, and to sustainably integrate their career ambitions with motherhood.

When women are supported during this transition, they tend to return to work more quickly and confidently, which supports greater employee engagement and well-being. Stronger succession planning and more robust leadership pipelines also follow, as women who feel better supported are more likely to remain loyal to and invested in their organisations.

Drummond says “organisations have a responsibility to better support women through this critical career stage. It isn’t only about accommodating maternity leave, it’s about actively investing in what comes next.”

Reframing Maternity as a Catalyst for Growth

Instead of merely creating opportunities for women to return to their previous roles, organisations have an opportunity to rethink how they support women returning to work after maternity leave. The key mindset shift is to reframe the maternity transition as a catalyst for personal and professional growth, rather than a career interruption to be managed.

Drummonds concludes, “coaching is one of many tools organisations can use to build stronger, more effective leaders through constructive conversations and planning, but the real opportunity lies in shifting the focus; not simply helping women return to work, but creating environments where they can grow and develop from life-changing experiences such as motherhood.”