Aussie mum details the parenting struggles ‘no one talks about’

An Australian mother has given an inside look at the challenges women face when returning to work after having a baby.

In a detailed TikTok video, Mia explained how mothers face unexpected pressures when they return to their full-time jobs.

“Did you know that your children need you most between the ages of zero and four? Yet most mothers are forced to return to work within the first year,” she says in the clip.

Throughout the two minute video, Mia provided context for scenarios that many parents seemed to be dealing with online – from taking your personal leave if your child is ill to the ‘mother guilt’ after dropping off your baby at childcare.

Mia claims that going back to work is “one of the hardest things about being a mother,” and it’s important never to assume that women would rather work than be stay-at-home parents.

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In a detailed TikTok video, Australian mother Mia (pictured) explained the pressure women experience when they return to their full-time jobs after having a baby. Throughout the two minute video, Mia provided context for scenarios that many parents seemed to be dealing with online

‘You have the pressure to go back to work for financial reasons; their job puts them back under pressure because once maternity leave is over, their jobs will be on the line if they don’t come back,” she said, calling the video “mum life.”

“Skills decline and anxiety kicks in when you go back to work. There is pressure from employers to work as if we have no children at home.

‘And if we want to work part-time or have a flexible employment contract, then you feel like a nag in the a**.’

Mia continued to explain how, when the children are sick, mothers ‘must call in sick as well’, resulting in fewer personal days off.

“We all know that daycares are just a germ party, so they’re sick every two weeks and if you have more than one kid, it’s like a ripple effect,” she said.

And if a child is taken out of daycare for a day or two, the parents still get the bill — putting even more strain on a family’s financial situation.

“So you lose money because you’re not working and then you pay childcare benefits even though they aren’t there,” Mia said.

‘Actually you only work to pay the childcare allowance, and nine times out of ten it’s not worth it.

‘But then you have to work, because that little bit extra that you bring in will cover the electricity bill.’

Not only do parents have to cope with the financial burden of childcare benefits, mothers also have to find emotional strength to leave their crying babies with others during work hours (stock image)

Not only do parents have to cope with the financial burden of childcare benefits, mothers also have to find the emotional strength to leave their crying babies with others during work hours.

Mia said, “The mother’s guilt is damn real and it runs through your head every day. You drop off your little babies at the nursery and they just yell at you and you should walk out like everything’s okay.”

She goes on to say that mothers at work are constantly thinking about their children and how they are doing all day long.

“As a mom, you have this internal dialogue that you want to be around adults and have adult conversations at work, but also just be home with your babies all the time,” she said.

The balancing act of work and parenthood is a tricky tightrope that millions of moms have to deal with, and many agreed-upon moms shouldn’t be ‘forced’ to choose between the two (stock image)

For Mia, she needed to find a way to make money on her own to spend more time with her kids, so she started her own company ‘Casual Creators’ where she creates TikTok content for brands.

“I’m grateful that I was able to start my own business and I hope all mothers can see that they can do it too,” she said.

But working for yourself, or not working at all, means less money going into retirement.

The balancing act of work and parenthood is a tricky tightrope that millions of moms have to deal with, and many agreed-upon moms shouldn’t be “forced” to choose between the two.

Others said online that it made “no sense” for them to go back to work because childcare costs would be higher than their income.

“I’m so lucky that my partner earns enough that I can take care of our babies full time, it’s bullshit that not all moms can do it,” one mom wrote in the comments of Mia’s video.

‘I’m taking five years off. it was a non-negotiable for me and when i tell you everyone looks at me shocked like “the brutality” it makes me laugh,” added another.

A third said: ‘The day care/sick leave problem is the whole reason I couldn’t work as a single mother of two. We’d be worse off if I worked.’