No one quite prepares you for it.
The way childbirth splits you open—emotionally, physically, spiritually.
The way motherhood rewrites your rhythm.
How something so beautiful can also quietly shake your confidence.
You walk back into the corporate world, heels on, laptop charged—
but inside, you’re asking:
“Am I still sharp enough?”
“Do I still belong here?”
“Will they treat me differently now that I’m a mum?”
You were once the woman with colour-coded spreadsheets, leading meetings with ease, owning your space.
Now you’re the woman googling “how to stop leaking milk during presentations.”
The woman doing night feeds and day reports.
The woman trying to remember who she was before she gave birth—and wondering if she can ever be her again.
Here’s what I want to say to you:
You don’t have to become who you were before. You can become someone deeper, wiser, stronger.
You can walk into boardrooms with a new lens.
You can lead teams with more empathy.
You can negotiate with fierce conviction—because nothing teaches strategy like surviving a toddler’s tantrum at 3 a.m.
You have not lost yourself—you have evolved.
And confidence? Confidence can be rebuilt.
Start by showing up for yourself the same way you show up for everyone else.
Relearn your strengths. They’re still there—just layered under laundry and lullabies.
Own your pace. Whether you return fast or slow—return fully.
And surround yourself with people who see the power in your becoming.
You are not just a working mother.
You are a woman who gave life—and is still giving life to everything you touch.
And that? That’s worth honouring.
#PostpartumConfidence
#WorkingMothers
#ReturnToWork
#LeadershipAfterMotherhood
#NicoleMararaReflections
#FaithWorkMotherhood