Retorno ao trabalho após o nascimento de um filho: percepções de professoras sobre sua experiência.
Resumen
The participation of women in the paid workforce has increased significantly in recent
decades, allowing women to make an important contribution to the family income. Apart from
their professional activities, many women are also responsible for the greater part of
household labor and childcare activities. Reconciling these responsibilities can be difficult,
due to the sheer number of activities to be accomplished, especially during periods when
professional and family demands are intense. As such, returning to work following a
maternity leave may be an especially difficult time, when the high volume of care for the baby
is added to work routines. In addition, legislation that secures the right to a maternity leave
does not guarantee adequate workplace support for mothers of infants and very young
children. As such, mothers who return to work when their children are very young may
experience difficulties to maintain a satisfactory involvement with their child, as well as
maintaining their job performance. The extent to which the mother-child relationship is
undermined is of great importance, given that poor maternal involvement is a risk factor for
the development of later problems in early childhood, as this may have a negative effect on
the emotional bonds between mother and child and reduce the frequency of stimulating
interactions. This study identified sources of support and strategies used by teachers to
reconcile childcare and paid work; the reactions and difficulties experienced by these
mothers; their wellbeing; and the activities undertaken by them and by their husbands, in
caring for their infants. Individual interviews were conducted, using questions with openended
and fixed-format responses, including a series of scales to measure workplace factors
and personal well-being, with 40 teachers who had children under two years of age. The
results indicate that few strategies were used by the employers to support these women; their
principal sources of support, although unsatisfactory, were their husbands and other close
family members. In general, the study participants felt over burdened, with little time for
themselves or to be with their children. Thus, one can see the importance of changes in the
work environment and of a more equal division of household labor between the marital
partners, representing initiatives that could generate positive changes in the women s
professional and family experiences. Becoming a mother is treated as a private event that
should not create an onus for the employer. However, the experiences of these women show
the importance of having employers assume a more supportive posture, to guarantee the
effective performance of their employees as well as their greater wellbeing during a period
that is so critical in the life of these mothers, their children and the students they teach.