Every week, somewhere in Nigeria, a talented, capable woman walks back through the doors of her organisation after maternity leave — and within six months, she has left. Not because she lacked ambition. Not because the work stopped mattering. But because the organisation she returned to was not designed for the person she had become.
This is the postpartum gap — and it is one of the most preventable talent crises in our workplaces today.
67%of women report feeling less supported after returning from maternity leave
43%of professional women in Nigeria who leave jobs after childbirth cite inadequate postpartum support
3–5xthe cost of replacing a senior employee compared to retaining them through postpartum support
What Postpartum Support in the Workplace Actually Means
Let's begin by separating this from maternity leave policy — because these are not the same thing, and treating them as synonymous is precisely how organisations fail returning mothers.
Maternity leave covers the period away from work. Most Nigerian organisations have some version of this and consider the matter closed once the employee returns.
Postpartum workplace support covers everything that happens after return: the physical environment, the scheduling flexibility, the cultural expectations, the manager behaviours, and the emotional infrastructure that either enables a woman to thrive or quietly pushes her toward the exit.
"The policy ends on the day she comes back. But the postpartum experience does not. We design workplaces as if a woman should simply resume exactly where she left off. That is both biologically ignorant and organisationally counterproductive."
The Five Elements of a Postpartum-Friendly Workplace
At Nura Hub, when we work with organisations on postpartum framework design, we assess five interconnected elements. These are not aspirational ideals — they are practical, implementable features that can be introduced in any Nigerian workplace regardless of size.
1. Physical Environment
A private, clean, comfortable space for expressing breast milk is not a luxury. It is a medical requirement. A lactation space needs a door that locks, a seat, a clean surface, access to power, and proximity to a refrigerator. That is the minimum.
2. Scheduling Flexibility
The first three to six months after a woman returns from maternity leave involve a biological and logistical juggle that most managers have never been trained to understand. Organisations that refuse to engage with flexible scheduling for returning mothers are not being rigorous. They are being rigid at the cost of talent.
3. Manager Capability
It does not matter how good your policy is if your line managers do not know how to implement it. Manager capability training is non-negotiable.
4. Cultural Expectations
Culture eats policy for breakfast. If your organisational culture treats postpartum needs as inconveniences, no policy will protect the women who experience them.
5. Mental Health Infrastructure
Postpartum mental health challenges — including postpartum depression — are medical realities that affect a significant proportion of new mothers. Organisations have a duty of care to provide access to support.
Barr. Safiya Hamza Jibrin
Founder · Nura Hub
Legal practitioner, gender equity consultant, and author of Becoming a Woman in Power. Safiya founded Nura Hub to close the gap between gender policy and organisational practice across Nigeria.