It’s often called the most important job in the world, but it’s not one you can list on your résumé.

In a tense American cultural atmosphere where women's bodies and rights are under siege, where maternity leave is often unpaid, and where mothers-to-be feel forced to quit their jobs in order to bond with their newborns, we wanted to honor moms and give them practical assistance at the same time.

The mission of the Pregnancy Pause is significant precisely because silence on gender issues seems to be the law of the land under America’s current administration. Simply getting moms to claim their time spent on leave as the demanding full-time employment it is puts this issue out in the open, where it can be supported and encouraged, fomenting change in the process.

“The Pregnancy Pause”

We knew we couldn’t fix American public policy overnight, but there’s one simple truth that can help women right now: according to a study from the University of Pennsylvania Law Review [Something to Talk About: Information Exchange Under Employment Law. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 165, 2017], working moms who openly acknowledge time spent on leave have a greater chance of being hired. Since these resume gaps have historically been so hard to talk about, we created a company women can simply list on LinkedIn for the duration of their leave: “Mom” at “The Pregnancy Pause.”

To get people talking, our execution had to ensure the work was as useful and accessible as possible. This began with its home. We chose LinkedIn, the world’s largest platform for career-building, so that we could reach, and assist, a wide swath of working moms on their home turf. This made the Pregnancy Pause, for all intents and purposes, a real company for moms to cite.

But just making a company wasn’t enough. We also created a toolkit for people to build their own resumes, a dedicated phone line for potential employers to call, and an educational video to raise awareness and incite action.

The Pregnancy Pause has provided tangible help for moms looking to return to work - with 1600 women across 33 states and 20 countries adding it to their resume.

But the real impact we achieved was the conversation we fueled in culture. To date, the Pregnancy Pause has been featured on the likes of Scary Mommy, Bravo, The Huffington Post, PopSugar, The Mother List, Market Watch, and Romper, achieving a total of 6 Million PR impressions. Cultural leaders have endorsed the project, including Cindy Gallop, while companies as diverse as Lifetime and Morgan Stanley have contacted us to make the Pregnancy Pause a bigger educational platform.

By starting a conversation, as well as providing an active tool to help, the Pregnancy Pause is making a powerful contribution to making it easier for moms to re-enter the workforce and achieve fulfillment in their career.

Given the societal pressure to stay silent on working moms’ resume gaps, we couldn't just celebrate motherhood with a stereotypically stirring thirty-second commercial and hope it got people talking. We had to generate conversation through utility, not empty words, making working moms feel both empowered and part of a bigger, more visible community.

The need for a blend of inspiration and utility is what made us choose LinkedIn as our focal point. As the world’s largest platform for career-building, it was the ideal media vehicle to both rally and educate the working moms that needed a voice and a path forward.

Ultimately, the easier it is for moms, employers and the nation to talk about maternity leave, the sooner we can combat discrimination.

The Pregnancy Pause was created to address an insidious gender misrepresentation with a concrete solution, valuing pride, hard work, and the importance of speaking up.

America is one of only two industrialized nations worldwide that doesn’t provide paid maternity leave. It’s up to individual employers to decide what’s “fair” compensation, which inevitably leads to lack of financial support, forcing women out of work once they give birth.

And when moms return to the workforce after being pressured out? They apply with “gaps” in their resumes that prospective employers can’t legally ask about. American moms are ultimately far less likely to find jobs than their male peers - including those who took paternity leave.

Brief

Legitimize maternity leave as the demanding full-time employment that it is.

Objectives

1. Ignite cultural conversation around an overlooked issue in American society: the difficulty new moms face in returning to the workforce after being forced out.

2. Give new moms a real and practical tool to assist in the above, while concretely helping their careers at the same time.