By Kim Vermaak

 

You came back to work six weeks after your baby was born. You smiled at the Monday meeting. You answered emails during night feeds, and you told everyone you were fine.

 

But you were not fine. And nobody asked.

 

I know this story because I lived it. After my child’s birth, something dark moved in. I call it the “monster” of postpartum depression. It felt like a cold weight pressing down on my chest every morning before I even opened my eyes. A voice that whispered I was failing, that my child deserved better, that something inside me had broken beyond repair. I hid it. I believed that if I just worked harder, smiled wider, and pushed through the exhaustion, the monster would eventually leave me alone.

 

It did not. And my silence only fed it.

 

And here is what I have learned since then: I was not alone. According to the World Health Organization, one in five women experiences a perinatal mental health condition during pregnancy or the first year postpartum. One in five. That means in your office, in your team, in your boardroom, there are women carrying this weight right now, and most of them will never say a word because they are terrified it will cost them their credibility, their promotion, or their job.

 

This is not just a personal struggle. It is a workplace crisis that we keep ignoring.

 

When you return to work while managing a mental health crisis that nobody can see, the toll is immense. Your employer expects you to perform as if nothing has changed. You attend meetings, hit targets, and manage teams while functioning on fragmented sleep and an identity you barely recognise anymore. You are expected to be the same professional you were before, but you are not the same person. Motherhood has fundamentally reshaped you, and nobody gave you time to figure out what that means.

 

Research from Mathematica shows that untreated maternal mental health conditions cost employers an average of $6,200 per affected employee annually in lost productivity and absenteeism. A lack of structured support and rigid return policies drive nearly one in four women to leave the workforce entirely during their first year of motherhood. These are not women who chose to stay home. These are women whose workplaces failed them.

 

In South Africa, where maternal mental health collides with systemic poverty, unequal access to care, and heavy cultural expectations, this pressure hits even harder. The Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) has championed this cause directly, reminding us that supporting mothers is a matter of dignity, equity, and social justice. When mothers fall through the cracks, their families and communities absorb the damage.

 

That damage does not have to be inevitable. But it will keep happening until workplaces stop treating the return from maternity leave as a logistical problem and start recognising it as a psychological transition. A woman who looks ready to return may still be fighting battles that nobody in the office can see.

 

If you lead a team, this is where you come in.

 

Train your managers to ask better questions. When a mother returns to work, “How is the baby?” is not enough. Ask her, “How are you managing the transition?” Create an environment where she can admit she is struggling without fearing that honesty will cost her the next opportunity. That is what psychological safety actually looks like in practice.

 

Build flexibility into the return. The sudden shift from being at home to being back in the office full-time can be overwhelming. Phased return-to-work programmes, hybrid options, and task reprioritisation during those first few months can make the difference between a mother thriving in her role or quietly planning her resignation.

 

Make Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) accessible and visible, specifically for maternal mental health. Most women will not ask for help. The system has to meet them where they are, not wait for them to reach a breaking point.

 

And recognise this. Motherhood reshapes a person in ways that benefit your organisation. It builds resilience, empathy, and a capacity for complex decision-making that few other life experiences can match. When you support women through the vulnerability of the postpartum period, you do not just retain talent. You develop fiercely loyal, capable leaders who bring a different kind of strength to your team.

 

My own recovery started the moment I realised that the monster was a symptom, not my identity. It started when I finally broke the silence. Too many women are still waiting for permission to do the same, and too many workplaces are making that silence feel like the only safe option.

 

You can change that. It starts with one conversation, one policy shift, one leader who decides that maternal mental health belongs on the agenda.

 

Source:

The $6,200 Employer Cost (Mathematica Research)

 

Kim Vermaak is an author, TEDx speaker, and mental health advocate. She speaks on maternal mental health, emotional resilience, and leadership communication