BALANCING work and family life can be difficult for anybody. But those on maternity leave face a particularly challenging time.
The law might be on their side, but many fear employers could bend the rules, leaving women with no job to come back to.
Now a survey has revealed 43 per cent of mothers return to work earlier than they had hoped – more than half because of job security fears.
Pam Featherstone, a Hull business coach, said: "People do worry about it, but I don't think they're right to worry.
"Apart from the fact you're protected legally, if you're doing a good job for an employer they're going to want you.
"I think the pressure comes from the woman rather than the employer – it's about people's perception."
Some women return to work early because they are self- employed.
Louise Bell, who runs city business FTP Gas Division, returned very soon after having her first child.
"I was running my own business so I didn't get a chance to have maternity leave," she said.
"In an ideal world I would maybe have done that, but I'm very career-driven. It's never been to the detriment of my family. I had to get back to work, otherwise it wouldn't have carried on."
Ms Featherstone believes the biggest hurdle comes even before a woman has had a baby.
She said some employers were reluctant to take on staff who might get pregnant.
"People who I speak to in industry can be very wary about employing women of childbearing age," the coach said.
"When employers are recruiting, they know maternity leave is something that could happen anyway and I think it can affect people's chances of getting a job."
Kate van der Sluis works in human resources for Welton recruitment firm Emmerson Kitney and has just returned to work after 12 weeks of maternity leave.
She agreed with the National Childbirth Trust research.
"It was earlier than I would have liked to come back, but I suppose it was necessary from a business perspective and important from a financial perspective," she said.
"The answer is flexibility – there's an awful lot of discretionary goodwill that sits around maternity leave.
"My company was very flexible and trouble-free."
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