Parent Sense

Lunch & Learn | Professional development webinar series

The Return-to-Work Advantage

Supporting mothers, strengthening business.

Hosted by Meg Faure with Alexa Starks, Denise Heavey and Phillipa Geard

  • Friday, 23 October 2026
  • 12:00 (UK) | 13:00 (SAST)
  • Online Zoom webinar

This webinar is formally accredited for CPD purposes. A certificate of attendance will be issued to all professionals who attend the live session. *Subject to approval

The Return-to-Work Advantage, a Parent Sense Lunch and Learn webinar on Friday 23 October 2026, hosted by Meg Faure with Alexa Starks, Phillipa Geard and Denise Heavey

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Register for free and we'll send you the Zoom link.

Join us for the Parent Sense Lunch & Learn, our monthly webinar series for professionals, as Meg Faure hosts Alexa Starks, Denise Heavey and Phillipa Geard to explore why supporting mothers back to work is one of the smartest retention decisions an organisation can make.

Many mothers leave their jobs in the year after having a baby, and organisations absorb the cost of replacing them, often far more than the cost of supporting them would have been.

This panel brings together research, recruitment and coaching perspectives from South Africa, the UK and Jersey, and the US and Europe. Together, they'll look at how many people this affects, where and why mothers leave, and what it costs, to the organisation and to her.

They'll also turn the conversation around. Research shows motherhood strengthens leadership skills such as resilience, negotiation and crisis management, so mothers often return more capable than when they left. The question is how to keep them.

Whether you work in HR, recruitment, employee wellbeing, healthcare or leadership, you'll leave with a clear business case and practical steps you can put in place straight away.

What you'll learn

During this session we'll explore:

  • How many people in the workforce are affected by working parenthood, and how often mothers take career breaks and return.
  • The points where mothers are most likely to resign, and what drives those decisions.
  • What it really costs an organisation to lose a mother after maternity leave.
  • Why mothers often return with stronger leadership skills, and why confidence dips anyway.
  • What South Africa, the UK and Jersey, and the US can learn from each other's maternity systems.

Practical application

You'll leave with:

  • A clear, evidence-based business case for investing in return-to-work support.
  • A practical framework for a documented maternity leave and return-to-work plan, agreed before leave begins.
  • Ideas for phased returns, flexible roles and keeping in touch during leave.
  • Ways to recognise and frame the skills mothers bring back to the workplace.

Meet your speakers

Meg Faure

Host | Occupational Therapist and Infant Specialist

Megan Faure (B.Sc OT, OTR) is an Occupational Therapist and parenting expert with a special interest in babies and toddlers, particularly infant temperament, sleep, emotional engagement and feeding.

She is the co-author of the Baby Sense and Sense series of books and has lectured internationally to professionals and parents on baby care and child development. Megan is also the founder of Parent Sense, bringing evidence-based parenting support to families around the world.

Passionate about helping parents nurture their children's emotional and developmental wellbeing, Meg combines her clinical expertise with practical, accessible guidance for modern families.

Alexa Starks

Founder & CEO of Mothered Media | United States

Alexa is the Founder and CEO of Mothered Media and Editor-in-Chief of Mothered Magazine, exploring the intersection of motherhood, leadership, workplace culture and modern work.

Through research, storytelling and workplace initiatives, she advocates for a shift in how organisations understand and support working mothers, from seeing motherhood as a challenge to recognising the resilience, leadership, adaptability and strength it develops.

She leads global research including The Future of Working Motherhood 2026 and the Maternal Strengths Report, and speaks to organisations about leadership after motherhood, recognition gaps and creating workplaces that work for real human lives.

A mother of two toddlers herself, she is passionate about building a better future of work for the next generation.

Denise Heavey

Founder of Mentorhood | Jersey

Denise is a Jersey-based career guidance specialist, recruiter and co-founder of Mentorhood, a social enterprise supporting parents to return to, remain in and progress in work.

Drawing on her own experience of an eight-year IVF journey and a difficult return to work, Denise now combines career support with wider advocacy for working families. Through Mentorhood, she works with employers, the Institute of Directors and the Policy Centre to identify the barriers that push people out of the workforce, while also campaigning for better support for families and building partnerships with charities, community organisations and specialist providers across the island.

Denise has also trained in mediation through the Resolution Centre and in parental transition coaching.

Phillipa Geard

Founder & CEO of RecruitMyMom | South Africa

Phillipa founded RecruitMyMom in 2012, championing South African mothers and connecting them with meaningful flexible work. RecruitMyMom publishes the annual Working Women in South Africa report, one of the few sources of data on working women in the country. Her focus is supporting working mothers through every season of their lives, and assisting global employers to source and retain top female talent across all seniority levels to meet their business requirements.

Losing a new mother is costly. Keeping her doesn't have to be complicated.

Join us to hear directly from the experts, and leave with strategies you can put into practice straight away.

Reserve my spot