Return to work after prolonged maternity leave. An interpretative description

Women who return to work after maternity leave go through a transitional phase in their life. This research aimed at gaining insight into the experiences of nurses who returned to work after prolonged maternity leave and the strategies to overcome them. To do so, this study adopted a qualitative design consisting of an interpretative description. The goal was to voice nurses' experiences by exploring their meanings and individual explanations, leading to practical implications. Twelve single face-to-face interviews were conducted. The anonymized transcripts were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Four main categories emerged from the analysis of the interviews “children nurturing”, “family and work”, “loss and gains”, and “handling the return”. Results showed that returning to work after prolonged maternity leave is characterized by both gains and difficulties entailed by the combination of family and work. Knowing to have one's newborn in safe hands makes emotional dilemmas less arduous. Moreover, such a perception permits to better focus on work tasks. While the return to work resembles the first access to the work environment, perceptions of social support can increase the motivation and pleasure of working, as well as personal resources.