Preparing Your Practice for Maternity Leave
Liya Goitom, DDS
Written by : Liya Goitom
Dr. Liya Goitom shares her process of preparing her dental practice for maternity leave and what adjusting to being back at work has looked like for her as a first-time mother.
The first few months after finding out I was pregnant, everyone around me, including friends, family and my team at work, was beyond ecstatic. As a small dental practice owner, the challenges and pressures of having to find temporary coverage for my maternity leave was the last thing on my mind. We have a team of seven full-time employees and a part-time associate dentist. When the office opened, our number one priority was placing a system in order for the practice to run smoothly in spite of one or two persons taking a vacation. Each person is cross trained to fill in multiple positions, which has enabled our team to travel for a short period without any downtime.
However, maternity leave wasn’t short. My plan was to take 2-3 months off and we needed an experienced and compassionate dentist that would take care of my patients like I do. We started interviewing during my third trimester and we had several solid applicants. It took over three months of interviewing before we finally settled on two part-time dentists to take over. Luckily, I was able to work until the day before my scheduled delivery date. The following day, I had my baby and I was officially on leave.
As a first-time mom, I barely had a chance to think about the practice the first week. My team was handling everything and it was going as smooth as it could possibly go without me. Second week, I went to the office and saw a few patients whose cases needed completion.
Honestly, I could have easily left things for the temporary dentists to finish the cases for me, but most dentists will tell you that no one can do what we do like ourselves, and I wanted to be there for my patients. It was also good for the team to see that I was still there to support them. It was, and still is, difficult leaving my son for work, but I realized that my practice also needed me.
Overall, I was out for 8 weeks but I was still going in every few days to encourage and support my team as well as to reassure my patients that I wasn't leaving permanently. It is a fine balance between being a practice owner and motherhood, but both have top priority in my life.
The hardest thing about returning to work full-time is finding child care and the sleepless nights. I’m truly grateful for my husband and my mom. My mom has been filling in when my husband and I are at work, and my husband has been very hands on and extremely considerate during the sleepless nights.
I do pump at work in between patients... it’s not as consistent as when I was at home, but I take every few chances that I have to pump and take it home during lunch breaks and at night.
Before this experience, our office was not set up for working moms to pump and store breast milk as needed. I pump in our dental lab which happens to be extremely small, but it is still pretty private and my team has been diligent about cleaning and organizing it. I have definitely learned some things in regards to creating a space for moms returning to work.
To learn more about Dr. Goitom and her practice in Elkridge, MD, please visit Pearl Smiles Dental.