The data suggest that 98% of women want to return to work after maternity leave. Yet only 13% say it is actually viable for them on a full-time basis, and of those who tried to return full-time, 79% ultimately left because they could not sustain it alongside the demands of new motherhood. (Careers After Babies Report, 2023)

These numbers are indicative of a serious underlying problem that, unfortunately, gets glossed over a little too easily. Work culture sometimes shapes perceptions of mothers before they have even had the chance to prove otherwise. From the moment a woman announces her pregnancy, there is often an unspoken shift in how her future at the organisation is perceived, and her reintegration, if it is thought about at all, is treated as a formality rather than a priority. What gets lost in this approach is the nuance. That two truths can exist at the same time. A woman can be a new mother and still be just as capable, driven and valuable as she was before. What she needs is for her organisation to meet her with intentionality, to create the conditions and structures for her to grow into motherhood while still showing up fully as a professional. When organisations provide that, they are not making an exception. They are making an investment.

The Reality of Returning

Returning from maternity leave is not as simple as picking up where things were left off. A woman returning to the workplace is not just adjusting her schedule. She is navigating a shift in identity, rebuilding her professional confidence, managing the physical and emotional demands of new motherhood, and re-entering a workplace that may have moved on without her. The assumption that she will simply slot back in after a few weeks to settle is where most organisations get it wrong.

And underneath all of that is something harder to name but very easy to feel. The assumption that has quietly settled in during her absence is that things will never quite be the same, that her commitment is now divided, and that the version of her that existed before motherhood is the truly valuable one. She walks back into that environment and feels it, even if nobody says it. And that feeling, more than the workload or the logistics, is what makes the return so difficult to sustain.

Where Organisations Might Miss It and What It Costs Them

Most organisations respond to maternity reintegration with a one-size-fits-all approach with standardised maternity policies, and while this is commendable, it is also not quite enough. What is rarely in place is a deliberate, structured plan for the actual return, and that gap is where things start to unravel.

Unfortunately, the costs of getting this wrong compound over time:

• Replacing a single employee costs between 50% and 200% of their annual salary, once recruitment, onboarding, and productivity loss are factored in (Gallup / Work Institute, 2023)
• 57% of women in senior roles leave their organisations within two years of returning from maternity leave (Careers After Babies Report, 2023)
• Research shows a 32% reduction in managerial responsibilities given to women after they have children, and a 44% increase in administrative roles, meaning women are often moved sideways before they eventually leave (Careers After Babies Report, 2023)

Beyond the financial cost, there is the operational disruption of repeatedly losing and replacing experienced people, the institutional knowledge that walks out the door with them, and the time it takes to rebuild team structures every time this happens.

There is also a reputational dimension that organisations increasingly cannot afford to ignore. Globally, the standard is shifting. Investors, clients, and regulators are paying closer attention to how organisations treat their staff, and gender equity is a growing part of that conversation. Organisations that have no answer to the question of how they support returning mothers are falling behind, while those that do are positioning themselves as employers of choice and as institutions that take global best practices seriously.

What Does Good Reintegration Actually Look Like?

In practice, good reintegration can look like the following:

• Targeted, personalised support: No two women return the same way. What one woman needs in her first weeks back is entirely different from what another needs, and treating reintegration as a one-size-fits-all process will always fall short. Good reintegration means actually asking her what she needs and building a return plan around her specific situation. It means approaching the process with intentionality and care rather than assumptions.
• Workplace provisions for maternal care: Supporting a returning mother also means thinking about the physical and practical conditions she is returning to. Breastfeeding stations, access to creches or daycare facilities where possible, and flexible arrangements that acknowledge she is managing more than she was before she left. These provisions are simply an acknowledgement of her current reality and of the fact that her workplace has considered what she actually needs to show up well.
• Taking maternity leave seriously: Organisations should operate at, or preferably above, the minimum legal standard for maternity leave, which in Nigeria’s private sector is 12 weeks. No woman should feel financially penalised or professionally threatened for taking the leave she is entitled to. The tone an organisation sets around maternity leave, whether it is treated as an inconvenience or a standard part of an employee’s lifecycle, shapes everything that follows.
• Bringing in the right expertise: Sometimes the most valuable thing an organisation can do is acknowledge that it does not have all the answers internally and bring in people who do. Whether through gender advisory professionals, structured reintegration programmes, or dedicated support for returning women, investing in the right expertise signals that the organisation is serious about getting this right rather than simply going through the motions.

Although the conversation around maternity reintegration is not new, its urgency is growing as the world evolves. Organisations that continue to treat this as a peripheral issue will keep losing talented women and bearing the costs, financial, operational, and reputational, that come with that. At Kobikam Africa Limited, this is the work we care about. We believe that equitable workplaces are deliberately built by organisations that decide to do better and then take the steps to make it real. If maternity reintegration is a conversation your organisation is ready to have, we are ready to have it with you.