Dr. Stacy Sims

My laptop is open.

I'm trying to breastfeed because we launched a company the month before I gave birth.

And instead of my male coworkers going, okay, we'll give you some grace, no.

So if you're working, you know, we're all very highly motivated and became parents, but it's that whole identity shift of now how do I interact in my life and how do I interact with my peers?

I'm a mom.

How am I being identified?

What are the implications?

So there's a complete identity shift that also isn't discussed and that can also perpetuate some of the postpartum that we see as well.

Well, there are a couple of companies in New Zealand who are pretty flexible, especially after the pandemic, where they have allocated certain hours that are free to work at home and just have to get the work done to the point where they have four-day working weeks.

And then they're also putting into the annual leave what they call menstrual leave or menopause leave.

And you just say, you know, I can't come today.

Some people are using it for childcare.

Some people are using it for really bad cramping days.

Other people are using it for mental health days.

But it's there to be used for however.

And you don't have to identify it as being menstrual cycle day or menopause.

It's just extra leave.

And people don't care as long as you get the work done.

And I think that having that flexibility across, you know, if you have that ability to have more flex hours or shared time space or something like that, greatly benefits productivity, as well as the feeling of empowerment and inclusivity, which then feeds forward to better productivity.

Well, that's an individual thing.