While parenthood typically comes with a lot of joy, it comes with a great deal of challenges, too. Working parents, and more specifically working moms, can oftentimes find it difficult to juggle taking care of a newborn while working, especially without any kind of parental leave available to them.
But that doesn’t mean there’s no hope for the working mom. On the contrary, actually.
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One company lets its employees bring infants up to six-months-old to the office.
In 2019, Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa launched a pilot program that would allow new mothers to bring their infants into work with them.
GSGI’s Chief Development Officer Chelsey DeRuyter was the first parent to take part, along with her daughter, Finley.
The then-14-week-old was the first infant in the office, though many other babies were expected to join the program in the coming months (as the company had several pregnant staff members).
The Infants-at-Work program is open for all new parents, not just moms.
GSGI’s website states that it’s a program for mothers fathers, and legal guardians alike, so that they can transition back into working without missing time with their new children.
The company sees this as a great program for many new parents.
GSGI’s Chief Executive officer (and mother of three) Beth Shelton said, “With the Infants-at-Work program, we’re supporting parents in their transition back to work, and creating a space where having children and advancing your career can happen simultaneously.”
But there’s more to it than just that.
“This program is also a great way for us to attract and retain amazing talent, support women who choose to nurse, and support babies in a developmental period of importance,” Shelton continued.
It looks like it was a pretty successful start.
Chelsey DeRuyter (and her daughter) sat down with Good Morning America to talk about the program and her experiences so far. She was very positive about the implementation of the program.
Actually, it was amazing.
She said, “At first I was nervous about how I would juggle my responsibilities and role. How was I going to juggle both daughter and being successful at my job? But I’ve been able to be very productive.”
It definitely helped DeRuyter strike a work/life balance.
“It makes me feel extremely empowered to be both a mom and a person with a successful career. I love being with Finley during these important milestones while being at a job that I love.”
The GSGI website outlines more details about the program.
According to the website, it’s for any infant up to six months of age, or who can crawl. It also allows other staff members to pitch in when the parent or guardian needs more time to focus on work.
This effort seems like a great idea for new parents.
Though the last few years have been marked with many parents working from home due to the pandemic, programs like this could totally be a great way to help new parents transition back into the workplace.
