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October 2015 Moms
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Working Mama Maternity Leave Plan Prep

heytallmamaheytallmama member
in October 2015 Moms
Hey Working Mamas! 

I'm sitting here at work procrastinating on my actual to-do list and instead have turned to typing up my maternity leave plan for the gal that's covering for me. One thing I'm kind of stuck on is this: Emails!  Some context: I work in program coordination, so lots of client inquiries and scheduling between parties goes on in my world. I love it, but a lot of the work is done over email... 

I really don't like the idea of handing over my log in credentials to my email and my ideal scenario is that I set up email forwarding from my address to hers, and that I have an out of office response enabled directing them to contact her during my leave. We use a Gmail based system, so these things are 100% doable... but I'm wondering when the best time is to enable those. My initial thought is that those things are set up well in advance so that when I go into labor and while I'm recovering in the hospital, I quick log in from my phone and hit enable on both of those things and forward any unread messages to her and then I'm done. For those that have done this before/ are working on your own plan -- do you think this is practical? If not, what is your plan/ what have you done in the past? 

When I'm actually in labor, assuming it's during work hours, I'll ask my husband to text her and my boss just to give the heads up that I won't be in that day (I am going to work up until I deliver, whether from the office or from home), and at that point, she'll change my voicemail message and let people know to stop sending calls to my line -- so that part I've got worked out. But the email thing has me stuck. Thoughts? What are other's plans? 
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Re: Working Mama Maternity Leave Plan Prep

  • margies2010margies2010 member
    I think your plan sounds pretty solid.
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  • rnielsen321rnielsen321 member

    Agreed!! I also do a lot of work via email... There will be a handover, to someone to check my emails, and someone will be on my OOO notification.

    I too plan on working up to delivery. So I will get it all set up and just get DH or my IT guy to trigger it if need be.


    Mama to a wonderful DD - Sep 2015, Wife to my DH since 2011, 2 dogs, a cat, and hoping to add No. 2 in May/June 2018. Canadian.
    5 - IUIs, 3 - IVF retrievals, 2- failed transfers (fresh, and frozen), PGS on second IVF resulted in 1 perfect emby, and DD. 
    3rd IVF w PGS resulted in 3! perfect embys. 1st transfer - Sep 2017 2 more on ice. 
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  • vamomtobevamomtobe member
    There's a good chance you'll have plenty of time during labor before things get intense where you can tie up loose ends with work.  Earlier in labor, there's a lot of hanging out and waiting between contractions.  So totally practical!  And wow, I need to start thinking about those details.
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  • 102215duryee102215duryee member
    I have the same plan. I coordinate services for my clients and a lot is via email. My emails will be forwarded to my supervisor and my 80 current families will be notified who will be their temporary service coordinator. I will have them divided up by what area they are currently in so one person doesn't have to take all of them at once. Then once I'm going into labor I'll send my supervisor a call and a mass text to those helping me at the office. I too plan to work until labor! I also have quite a few meetings that will be scheduled around that time so I will be making sure someone in the office has that time slot open in case the meetings need to be covered.
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  • heytallmamaheytallmama member
    vamomtobe said:

    There's a good chance you'll have plenty of time during labor before things get intense where you can tie up loose ends with work.  Earlier in labor, there's a lot of hanging out and waiting between contractions.  So totally practical!  And wow, I need to start thinking about those details.

    That's what I was hoping for! Thanks for confirming that my big idea isn't totally far off!

    Planning for this and writing out my plan is making me dizzy-- trying to explain my thought process and how I organize things is crazy!
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  • ameares721ameares721 member
    I half-jokingly asked IT if my email could be disabled for 12 weeks haha! I will likely forward all emails to my casework tech (a counselor's right hand!), have an out of office, forward all calls, and have my voicemail set to say that the voicemail is unmonitored until January when I will return.
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