For Black women, thriving at work does not come without its sacrifices. Between fighting for equal pay and getting credit for their ideas, surviving the workplace seems like an uphill battle that only gets steeper. This is especially true for moms coming back to the workplace postpartum. Recently, we saw Jess Hilarious (real name Jessica Moore) air out her grievances on Instagram Live about her bosses and co-hosts at The Breakfast Club, expressing disappointment that her maternity leave fill-in Lauren Lorosa was still taking up space on the show even after she’d returned to work. The next day, Jess addressed the controversial Live with her fellow co-hosts on-air, making it clear that there was a lack of communication from leadership at Power 105.1 about the show’s new direction and how she and Lorosa’s roles would intertwine. Out of all the sound bites that made their way into the ether, the bit that really struck me was Jess telling her co-hosts: “The only person who asked me about my baby [and] maternity leave was DJ Envy.”
As expected, fans of the show weighed in on the controversy. Some social media comments even claimed that Jess got pregnant too soon after joining the hit morning show, which put her position in jeopardy. “She can’t blame anyone but herself,” wrote one TikTok user. “Can’t be taking a long maternity leave on your new job and think they aren’t looking for your replacement.” Radio politics aside, I couldn’t help but feel for Jess, and all moms who have ever been in her shoes. Coming back to a job that demands being front-facing on camera, as well as funny and entertaining each day, is hard enough, but it’s even harder when you may not be feeling quite like yourself yet. To make matters worse, she also has to contend with the rumblings of being replaced. I couldn’t help but to imagine how other high-achieving new moms with demanding careers have felt after coming back from maternity leave. After speaking with two moms who know this journey all too well, I’ve learned that a lack of support for mothers following maternity leave is an all-too-common problem in the workplace.
Emmelie De La Cruz, founder of the marketing agency Villa, always knew she wanted to be a mother. After becoming pregnant with her first child in 2022, she worked until two weeks before her delivery date, making sure her clients and team were set up for success before her maternity leave. After giving birth to her son, she says she had to come to terms with the changing priorities of her life and became more comfortable setting boundaries. “A lot of times your brain isn’t firing on all cylinders, and your priorities change,” she says of being a brand-new mom. “It was just really hard to get grace from folks who weren’t parents because they just expected Emmelie to keep showing up in the same way with a kid, and they didn’t understand how drastically one’s life changes.”
De La Cruz says she’s lucky in that many of her current clients are parents themselves and are willing to be flexible on days when her son is sick, or emergencies come up that require her to shift fully into mommy mode. It also called attention to the changing needs of her business, which inspired her to restructure her brand so that she could be more hands-off. “[Having a child] really forced me to grow up and enforce my boundaries and improve my leadership skills so that I could build a team,” she says. “I feel like having people who can pick up the pieces and step in for you is so crucial. When you’re a parent, they always say it takes a village to raise a kid, and I think that’s in personal and professional life.”
Metanoya Z. Webb, writer, and editorial director, says her pregnancy journey was unorthodox in the best of ways. She didn’t find out she was expecting until she was almost five months along. It was the most delightful surprise of her life, but the timing also didn’t allow for much preparation at work. Webb had just begun her role as an editorial manager for a major fashion brand and remembers feeling a tinge of guilt. “I had just started the role and I was overseeing a team,” she says. “I wanted to be around for my team and be able to do my job effectively as well. I was just starting out in a new industry, and I didn’t want to walk away from work after one year and take a lot of time off.”
Webb remembers having a conversation with her manager at the time, who was supportive and encouraged her to take all the time she needed. Still, she took advantage of the energy she had and worked right up until it was time to give birth to her son. “I have a photo of myself in the lobby of Hudson Yards [in New York City] at 40 weeks pregnant. I was still taking the train!”
Webb’s mom, who is retired, volunteered to watch her newborn grandson full-time, and since Webb felt energized and that she had spent quality time bonding with her son, she decided to return to the office six weeks after giving birth. “I only took six weeks because I was very blessed and this situation is not the case across the board for most people,” she acknowledges. “I wanted to break up my routine a little bit, and I had a hybrid situation [where] I wasn’t in the office all five days. My mom is also supportive of my career. It was a good time for me at work, and she’s like, ‘I don’t want this momentum to stop for you.’”
In speaking to Webb, I can hear the excitement in her voice as she gleams about how passionate she was about going back to work with her team of creatives. But she also admits that as a mother and working Black professional, it’s common to feel some sense of insecurity around your role. “I think it’s kind of an occupational hazard. You’re in these very sought-after positions. They’re not easy to attain, so when you do get the opportunity, you kind of have to show up and show out.”
Both De La Cruz and Webb say that motherhood, despite all of its demands, has changed their relationships with work for the better. Not only has it given them patience but also perspective. “I do marketing. I do not work at the hospital. I do not do brain surgery,” De La Cruz says of her shift in mentality. “If you don’t get this social media graphic until tomorrow, you’re going to be okay.”
Webb learned to lean on her tribe, including her coworkers, for the support she needs. “I wasn’t looking for my coworkers to necessarily coddle me. I just wanted them to let me back into the circles so that I could contribute what I needed to creatively,” she says. “So [I would advise other mothers] if you need space and support, advocate for what it is that you need. And if it doesn’t exist, don’t be afraid to create it.”
