Workings Moms & Moms-to-be

Hi Everyone,


I am new to HK, a young one and 22 weeks with my first baby. Excited? Absolutely! Scared? Definitely! It is unchartered territory for me and even more so with moving to a new city without those dear and near. But I am a trooper and foresee no real problems with this set up.


I AM, however, bored as a bat sitting at home day after day. I am an ambitious one that hates not having much to do! I miss working and know that I can't afford to go without working for too long.


I have mixed feelings and concerns about work. Of course the decision to work is purely based on the individual and is something that should always be discussed and decided with the guidance of a Dr., but I'm curious how others have dealt with this.


It would be interesting to know how far into pregnancy other ladies have gone before taking a break from work? How long before you went back to work? Come to think of it, I wonder how they deal with maternity leave here in HK?


I'd really love to hear your thoughts, experiences.


Cheers!

Peanutbutter pieces -


a number of posts on this on the mom and dads forum. do a search there and read through and bring up additional questions. Tons of working moms in HK - we all survived and our babies are fine. The initial months are pretty hard - I went back to work part time after 6 weeks - but I work from home and only part time. SO it was easy for me.


At any rate - go take a look at moms and dads.

I will leave at 34 weeks (since i need to travel to india to have the baby) and then be back when the baby is about 6 weeks old.


I'm lucky too - i have a flexible working arrangement.

Maternity leave is a very short 10 weeks. Also, you are only eligible for this if you have already worked for the company for 40 weeks I believe - so in other words, prior to your getting pregnant.


There are no breast feeding or pumping facilities in most offices.


Most office hours are 8:30 - 6:00, and in reality most people don't leave until well past 6:00. So you don't get home until after baby has gone to bed.


I did go back to work out of financial necessity, but arranged to work from home so I could breast feed.


In the ideal world a part-time job with flexible hours would be ideal - so you still have time to spend with your baby. A full time job in HK leaves little to no time for your baby.


And you will find that all the baby/mummy classes or events or socials are during working hours.


Something else to note - I was a serious work-a-holic who was convinced I would not miss baby and just go back to work... Well, having a baby really does change you. So if you can avoid committing to full time work, you might want to wait and see how you actually feel.


In addition, there are LOADS of things you can do - like volunteer - to fill your time in a productive fulfilling manner.


Check out http://www.ho-sum.org for volunteer options.

Thank you for your replies hkchoichoi, Hen, the_goddess_kali and cri.


It's nice and really helpful to hear about your experiences. And cri, I can totally relate to being a workaholic and thinking that you can jump right back into work. I know that things won't be the same once baby comes along, but unfortunately, finances do play a hefty part in the equation. That, and I'm 25 and still feel (and secretly fear) that I will fall out of the loop and miss out by staying out of work for too long. Maybe it's because work is all I've known, has always been that something that I've been good at (cooking: a far and distant...last) and independent, working woman is what I once was. Of course this fear will most likely become null and void once baby is in my arms... Maybe then I'll be CO-dependent, happy, fulfilled Mama, right! :D


Another question is about working part-time. hkchoichoi and cri: you mentioned that you work part-time at home or arranged to work from home. May I ask what line of work you are in? It boggles my mind how you could be so lucky to get that arrangement! Work, for me, has always been confined to the office and always revolved around my desk, office machinery, phone calls and a pile of paperwork. Please help jumpstart my creative juices. I'd like to start thinking about my options from home so that I can find that satisfying medium between caring for my own baby and still reaping the benefits of work.


Thank you again for your replies! Very helpful in getting me thinking about what lies ahead. Sometimes it just takes hearing about others' experiences to put your heart and mind at ease...


To the_goddess_kali: all the best! I'm suddenly curious tho how you will get around travelling back to India at 34 weeks. I've been told that women 7 months pregnant and onwards aren't permitted to board any of the commercial airlines. Maybe I'm mistaken? In any case, best of luck!

You are so young at 25. I am 35, if you took two years off now, you would still be at a prime age in the workforce - really, you have nothing to worry about.


It will be hard for you to find any work in HK, when you are new to the city and while you are pregnant already. Few companies would take the risk as well as the hiring and training costs.


What do you currently do? What are you interested in?


I would spend your initial months in HK networking and meeting as many people as possible - this will put you in a good position to pick up freelance work and eventually a full or part time job. There are loads of great business networking events run through the various Chambers of Commerce and interest groups.


HKCC tutors at home, so she is her own boss. Which is an ideal situation in many ways.


I work a very demanding job for a large American company, but they only have a small office in HK so were flexible as to my working location.


As for flying, you get a note from your doctor to say it is okay- it varies airline to airline but up to 35-37 weeks is usually okay with a note.

reesespieces thanks for the wishes

but most airlines including thai airlines (which i'm booked on) allows people to fly upto 36 weeks. My mum says that i should fly out at 30 or 32 weeks - but I'm not going to leave for reasons of work, hubby and all that...

Reeses -


CRJ is right. Work from home teaching English. I was a former HS teacher in the US so it was a natural and very easy transition for me. It's not a bad gig - I do it well and I enjoy it so I can't complain about it.


My sister in law comes to mind when I think about your situation. She's pretty high up at Yahoo!inc and has been working all of her life. She only knows work (not into the kitchen and domestic things either) and has managed to breastfeed three kids (expressed milk) and still works. She went back to work after each of her pregnancies within 12 weeks. she LIKES work though - and really finds that it fulfills a part of her that she wants to have filled.


Not everyone is like that - and you may find motherhood more than enough. IF you can make it work financially - then it will be a truly worthy investment. It's hard to say - but as CRJ says - you are really young (lucky you having your first at 25 - I was 33.) you have lots of time - depending on your field of work - there may be some flexibility getting back to work.

I worked up to the birth of my first child and went back to work twelve weeks later. I was able to work from home then so I really did not go back into the office fulltime for quite a while after the birth.


I am pregnant with my second child and will also work up until the birth. This time I won't be able to work from home, so I will probably go back to work after about 15 or 16 weeks. Then my DH will take 8 weeks leave. All up one of us will be at home with the new baby for about 24 weeks. Then we will both be at work full time.

Reeses and other Mums, don't be too frightened about taking time out of the workforce to be a stay at home Mum - if you can afford it. I stayed at home with my two for 12 years, then went back to Uni and retrained. A four year degree in Management and back into the workforce. First job back was a senior position with a multi national. They took my qualifications, past experience in the workforce and maturity as pluses. Now many years later and we are in HK and I am in even more senior position. Make it work for you. Good luck.