I asked Nikki and Nick Bartlett, who run Maternity Unlimited in the UK, to comment.

To a certain extend these results hold some truth. The challenge for a working woman during the transition to becoming a working mum involves numerous changes in that individual’s identity. The longer a person has to embed the new identity of being a mum the harder it becomes to recognise and relate to the “working” identity that they once held. The trick is to insure that women have the chance to “plan” for their return before they leave to have their baby. The gap between intention and actual behaviour widens if a women goes on maternity without having a plan to return to work in place. They are unprepared for the changes in identity and therefore swept along with experience rather than having a date/goal/objective to aim for.

In April 2011 UK women will be able to share their 52 week allowance with their partner allowing them to go back to work at the 6 month stage with the partner taking over childcare responsibilities. This will mean that families will have to be even more organised and the emphasis on responsibility is firmly on the organisations to give their employees all of the tools and time they need to plan if they expect to retain their parenting employee population.

Put that way, it really makes sense, no? And if both parents can share a year, surely that would lessen the notion that employers will shy away from hiring women. It’s not as if employers can avoid hiring parents.