Maternity Leave Plan Template: Keep Your Career on Track
She Might Staff
4/23/2025
Motherhood is an extraordinary journey. Beyond the reality of growing a child inside of you, it can bring significant shifts to family dynamics and career paths. This was certainly true for me.
I still remember the shock of discovering I was pregnant. My husband and I had been married for less than a year, and children weren't in our plan.
Adding to the mix, I had spent four years building my career, pouring myself into my work—it was my passion and priority. Can you relate?
You might be at the start of your career, or you might have a team that depends on you. Wherever you are in your professional journey, rest assured there is a path you can take to embrace both your career and your family.
In this article, we’ll cover how to successfully plan your maternity leave in three simple documents—Maternity Logistics, Responsibilities & Communications Tracker, and Re-entry Plan. Along the way, I’ll throw in a few personal anecdotes, practical advice, and sample documents from my own maternity leave journey.
But first, let’s talk about the benefits of creating a maternity leave plan.
Why you need a maternity leave plan
Planning your maternity leave is crucial to a successful transition to and from maternity. Once you tell your boss about your pregnancy, it’s a good idea to provide a detailed maternity leave plan to your team lead, human resources department, and direct reports.
Crafting a solid maternity leave and re-entry plan will demonstrate to your team that you’re committed to the company, their success, and your career. Any potential questions about your commitment to work or your desire to return should be eased.
Even if you are unsure of whether you’ll return, creating a pathway for you to do so will keep your options open and give you peace of mind as you enter this new chapter of life. You never know when your baby will arrive, so it’s best to prepare in advance.
Your maternity leave plan should include three documents. Save them and make them accessible to everyone on your team. If possible, you should also email them to your team before your leave begins to ensure that everyone has them at their fingertips.
These three documents include:
1. Maternity Logistics
2. Responsibilities & Communications Tracker
3. Re-entry Plan
We will get into the details of those three documents, but first, let’s break down FMLA and what it means for your maternity leave.
What is FMLA, and how does it apply to your maternity leave?
*Keep in mind that different states may offer additional benefits, so make sure to do some research into your state benefits as well as your employee/federal benefits.*
Let’s talk about job security. You might be concerned that you’ll be replaced or fired during your absence. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was passed in the United States in 1993 to ensure unpaid, job-protected work for employees like you. If you or your employer qualify for FMLA, your job is protected for up to 12 weeks, and your employer must continue your health insurance as if you were not on leave.1
When you return to work in that time frame, your same job (or one nearly identical to it) is legally required to still be there for you. Some companies will choose to protect your job for longer than twelve weeks, say sixteen weeks, to give you extra time and peace of mind.
It’s a good idea to talk with your HR Department to understand your employer’s policies. Ask questions, learn about your company’s parental leave policies, and figure out what FMLA forms you’ll need to fill out. Your HR Department is there as a wonderful resource!
Pro Tip: If your company offers paid leave, you are truly fortunate. Only 27% of U.S. civilian workers have access to paid family leave. If you’re part of the majority and only have access to unpaid leave, check out our financial tips on how to survive unpaid and partial paid leave. (Updated from 2023 Data)
Document #1: Maternity Logistics
Collect all important maternity leave and reentry logistics into one document, so it’s easy to reference for both you and your team.
Important Dates
Use this document to communicate important dates like your due date, the date two weeks out from your due date, and the date your third trimester begins.
Delivery & Maternity Logistics
This document should also include your delivery and maternity logistics. Provide the name and address of where you’ll deliver the baby and where you’ll be during maternity leave. This can be helpful in case your coworkers want to send gifts or if you need to be rushed to the hospital.
Re-entry
Include an overview of your return-to-work plan, for example the duration of your maternity leave with specific dates you’ll check in and return to work.
Contact Logistics
Last but not least, you should list who is allowed to contact you from the team and any parameters you want to set for communications—like how you can be contacted and what topics you can be contacted about.
Katie’s Maternity Logistics (Example)
Due Date: March 16, 2019
Two Weeks Out: March 2, 2019
Third Trimester Begins: approximately December 22, 2018
Last Day in the Office: March 8, 2019
Length of Leave: 10 weeks
Return to Work: May 24, 2019
Expected Return Date & Re-entry Overview: I will check in with my Team Lead and HR the week before I start back to work on May 17, 2019. I will work remotely for the first week and then come into the office two days a week starting June 3, 2019.
Communications Point of Contact: Team Lead, can contact by text or call with urgent questions or updates.
Hospital/Birth Center Information: Tri State General, 1 N Hospital Dr., New York, NY, 10001
Doctor Name & Contact Information: Dr. Robert Smith, rsmith@tristatehospital.com, (987)-654-3210
Maternity Leave Location: 123 S Home St, Apt. 700, New York, NY 10002
Emergency Contact: John Doe, johndoe@email.com, (123)-456-7890
Pro Tip: I suggest checking in with your boss and HR a week before you return from maternity leave. This will ensure you have all the proper paperwork completed. It will also notify everyone that you are either returning to work or extending your maternity leave.
Document #2: Responsibilities & Communications Tracker
Download the Responsibilities & Communications Tracker Template.
In order to prepare your direct reports for your absence, document who team members will report to, who will approve their timesheets, and where they can go for questions. Make sure they have the capacity to oversee your direct reports and help them while you are on maternity leave.
Projects & Processes
Start by including all of your current projects along with their respective statuses, details, and due dates. Delegate each project to specific people and train the people who will cover for you.
Write out any processes you follow on a regular basis. Also, make sure you meet with each person before you go on maternity leave to answer any questions they might have.
Communication Plan
What’s more, it’s extremely important to write out your communication plan for staying in touch when you’re out of the office.
Designate a person: First, you want to designate a person who can contact you while you’re on maternity leave. Set parameters for the means of communications: text, phone call, or email. Also, set parameters for when they can contact you and why.
While I was on maternity leave, only my boss was allowed to contact me either by text or phone call. At first, I didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of not working at all. However, the time goes by very quickly, and you’ll be very busy with other, dare I say, more important things.
Pro Tip: If you’ll be taking short term disability during maternity leave, you cannot work at all while on maternity leave until you are cleared by a doctor to return to work.
Create your maternity leave out-of-office message: Lastly, as part of your communication plan, have your out-of-office auto response ready, so a team member can turn it on if you go into labor before your maternity leave begins. About 80% of women give birth before their due date, so it’s best to be prepared!2
In your out-of-office email, make sure to state the following:
- The reason for your absence
- When you plan to return to work
- The name and contact information for the person(s) covering your responsibilities
Thank you for your email! I am currently out of the office on maternity leave and plan to return in [Month]. I will not have access to emails during that time. If you have questions about the following, please reach out to the designated team member:
Topic 1: NAME (insert email)
Topic 2: NAME (insert email)
For any other questions, please reach out to [Name] (insert email address). I look forward to returning your email upon my return. Please give grace, as I will answer emails in the order I have received them.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
I was writing emails from my phone while sitting in the Labor & Delivery waiting room after my water broke. I was certainly in denial that a baby was on the way! But because of my communication plan, my assistant was easily able to turn on my out-of-office auto response.
Check out our article on crafting a maternity leave out-of-office message for additional email templates and advice.
Document #3. Reentry Plan
Last but not least, write a reentry plan for how you’ll return from leave. You’re going to balance a lot, so it’s a good idea to ease into things at first if you can. This is all new territory, so have grace with yourself. And remember, it’s completely possible to keep your career on track leading up to and following pregnancy.
Communicate your return date.
Before you leave for maternity, make sure everyone (HR, your boss, your team, etc.) has agreed to or knows the day you will return to work and the manner in which you will return (part-time, telecommuting). Clarity is key.
I had an employee who returned from maternity leave, but no one knew it for a week! It made for a terrible transition back to work for her and the rest of our team. Be clear about when you are returning and make sure everyone is on the same page.
Give yourself time.
Determining your length of leave after giving birth can be a struggle. Let me share an important reminder—you created and gave birth to a human being. You’ve done a lot with your body over the last nine months, and you deserve the chance to recover.
So, to the degree your life allows, give yourself permission to rest and enjoy time with your baby. Those moments with your little one are truly precious. I was worried about being gone for “too long.” I had a team that I was managing and an impending summer program to run. I even had one employee go on maternity leave the week before me.
The decision to return to work truly depends on your situation. Here are some reflective questions to help you discern how much time to take away from work:
When do you imagine your mind and body will be ready?
Do you have childcare?
Do you need to go back for financial reasons?
I ended up taking about 10 weeks off. Looking back on my final weeks, I was ready mentally to get back to work. I love the work that I do and wanted to jump back into it. At the same time, I do wish I had stayed at home with my daughter another week or so.
There will always be work, but those special moments with your child are fleeting. Treasure them while you can!
Explore flexible work options.
Start by checking with your boss and HR department to see if there are flexible work options you can explore, like working from home or working part-time. Ensure that you fill out the proper paperwork for HR.
For my first couple days back, I stayed home and worked through my emails before physically going back into the office. Then, I eased back into things by only going into the office two-to-three days a week and worked from home the other days.
Organize childcare.
Most likely if you are going back to work, you’ll need childcare. I don’t have any family in the area, so we had to come up with a plan. I encourage you to seriously consider your options early on.
I thought people were crazy for putting preborn children on waitlists, but now I understand why. My daughter is still on a waitlist at a daycare, and she is 19 months old. In the interim, I’ve used care.com, recommendations from friends, neighborhood kids, and friends. Find the childcare that works best for your family and your position.
At first, I had childcare come to my house and watch my daughter for half days, so I could work. I would work during her nap times and again in the evenings after she went to bed.
I also do a lot of travel, so I brought my daughter with me. My company is gracious enough to pay for nursing moms to have someone travel with them, so my husband, mom, and best friend took turns going on trips with me. We made the best of it and great memories, and we’re now pros at traveling with a baby.
Create a breastfeeding plan.
If you’re nursing, you’ll want to figure out a plan for pumping while at work. You’ll need to pump every couple hours. Talk with your HR or Facilities department and learn where the nursing rooms are in your office.
Additionally, you’ll want to figure out what type of pump you want to use. I ended up having two different pumps—one with cords and one cordless that you could barely tell I was wearing. Both were great. I can’t tell you how many times I pumped in the car to and from work.
Follow us on Instagram!
@shemightofficial on Instagram. Your go-to destination for all things unexpected motherhood.
Follow us on Instagram for daily inspiration, real stories, and practical resources to support you on your unexpected motherhood journey. Join a community that uplifts, encourages, and equips you with the tools you need—plus, don’t miss out on our regular giveaways!
Visit @shemightofficial on InstagramAs a mom, your career goals are 100% possible.
One last reminder. The progress you’ve made in your career will not be lost during your maternity leave. You can still progress in your career while being a new mom. It will take some work-life balance, but I’m convinced that being a mom gives you infinite new capabilities.
At the same time, you might feel different about work after having a child. As one leadership coach told me, your priorities often change after having a baby. At the end of the day, you’re replaceable at work, but you’re not replaceable to your family. It’s okay to let your priorities shift and allow your family life to take up more time.
There is a season for everything. It’s ok to slow down for a season, pick back up for a season, and do it all over.
Sources:
- U.S. Department of Labor. 2020. “Family and Medical Leave Act.” dol.gov. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla.
- Picker, Lauren. 2015. “The Truth About Due Dates.” Parents Network. https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/labor-and-delivery/the-truth-about-due-dates/