It’s rare you get more than 30 working mums all in one place, especially to talk about just that – balancing (OK, precariously juggling) parenthood with a career. But that’s what we did at our first ever Working Mums Club networking event
Held in the amazing One-O-One Restaurant – part of The Park Tower in London’s Knightsbridge – the informal session was kicked off by Equalities Minister Jo Swinson who gave us her take on the main issues facing working mums today.
Introduced by M&B’s ed-in-chief Claire, pregnant Jo recently made headlines when she wasn’t offered a seat in the House of Commons (she had one here, don’t worry).
She talked about proposals currently going through parliament in the Children and Families Bill, with a particular focus on Shared Parental Leave – something particularly relevant to mums-to-be at the moment, as Nick Clegg revealed it’ll be in place by April 2015.
She also addressed flexible working, saying she wanted to ‘change the culture in our workplace to one where flexibility is the norm’ and added, ‘We have so much technology that allows us to work from different locations these days, it’s just about [employers] using their talent pool well.’
Then, after a Q&A with Jo and over the restaurant’s beautiful afternoon tea (think mini cupcakes, macaroons and beef and horseradish sandwiches *starts drooling*), it was all about mingling.
Guests included women from industries including beauty, law and media – everyone from TV’s Donna Air and retail’s Wendy Hallett MBE to careers author Jessica Chivers and baby sleep consultant Tina Southwood all catching up and sharing ideas.
All this was to officially launch our Working Mums Club – something we’re very proud to have created for working mamas everywhere.
Feel unsupported at work? We hear you. Struggling to balance career and family? We’ve got the information you need.
We’ve also recruited some of the most inspirational working mums we’ve ever met to create a unique panel, who will offer advice, share their own experiences and support you with the joint pressures of bringing up a family and moving up the career ladder.
We’ll bring you expert advice, Facebook chats and more – just look out for details in the magazine and at motherandbaby.com.