Open Discussion: Professional Women Losing Their Identities After Baby

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage!  Right?  Well, not so fast.

The issue for some women after the arrival of baby seems to be:

Who am I?

What am I worth?

Am I still considered a professional and competent woman?

Are my abilities, education and experience still respected after having a baby?

Who am I outside of my work?

Last evening, while talking to a the blog owner of Six Figure Moms Club, Angie Swartz and she said that one of the recent phenomenons that she’s come across is that professional women lose confidence in their abilities once they have children.

I thought I’d pose the question to the readers to see if you could provide any insight. I hadn’t thought about that but it is a concern of mine as I make the shift from grad student to career woman and pretty soon motherhood.  I wonder if has to do with identity shifts from being a professional woman to becoming a mom and what that means in our society?

To further illustrate, while at Blogworld, one of the panelists from How to Market To Mommy Bloggers got a little irritated when they referenced her as a “mommy blogger”. I was bit confused but she explained it as the tech bloggers look down on her when she explained what she does with her blog, the reply she received was “oh, so you’re a mommy blogger…*blank stare*”…” I get that they probably said it in a condescending tone as if what she blogs about is any less important but what I don’t understand is why can’t they shake that? They are a HUGE brand in the blogosphere with companies like Graco and Huggies courting them pretty often.

Brand Sponsorship as a blogger = $$$mooolah! = Power 

Now, I know you’re probably asking what does this have to do with personal finance?  Well, think about it, if a woman’s self perception is that her worth is less now that she has a baby, is she more likely to demand what she is worth as a freelancer/consultant?  Angie said in her experience, some do not.  Especially if she is now separated from her former place of employment and consulting because of the need for flexibility this type of work provides.

Lower perception of self worth as a mom = Not demanding what you’re worth in the business arena/workplace.

Why do you think there is such a negative identity shift from professional woman to mother/mom?

Have you seen this happen?

Why do you think this happens?

Have you experienced this in your own life?

Please, feel free to be open and candid in your responses.

#bwe08