It's essential to plan ahead when negotiating maternity leave. Here's how.

From the nursery to the lack of sleep to the type of delivery you'll have, there are so many things to plan for when there's a new baby on the way. On top of all that, you also need to determine how long you'd like to be away from work to care for your new baby.

Negotiating maternity leave takes some education and planning. A well-thought-out approach to requesting leave can increase your chances of being approved for an extended leave if you end up needing one. Below are some tips to help you generate your plan of action so you can enjoy your new baby without worrying about having to return to work too early.

Research and understand your company's leave policies

By law, organizations that meet certain criteria (50 or more employees living within a 50-mile radius) have to offer up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to eligible employees to care for the birth of a child or an adoption. Some organizations, however, offer additional maternity leave that might be paid or unpaid. Many organizations will pay for leave up until the doctor releases you to return to work, which is typically six weeks for a natural delivery and eight weeks for a cesarean delivery. The remaining leave might be unpaid, or some companies allow you to use paid personal or vacation time for the remainder of your leave. Depending on your organization, this leave might dip into your FMLA leave, which is the norm from my experience.

Some organizations will also allow employees to take a personal leave of absence for a specified period. You need to research and get clear on your company's policies and how much leave is possible for you to take based on the standard company policy. Ask your human resources department about the organization's maternity-leave policy and how everything works, as well. From there, you can determine how much additional time you might need, if any.

To read more about employer requirements and employee eligibility requirement for FMLA, refer to DOL Fact Sheet # 28: The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993  and the DOL Family and Medical Leave Act web page.

Check in with other expecting or new moms

When you're pregnant, other expecting moms and new moms can make great allies in general. You're all entering a new stage of your life that will surely bring surprises, joy, new challenges, and so much more. If you can connect with another mom who is close to giving birth, just gave birth, or just returned to work after maternity leave, you can ask them about how they negotiated maternity leave and what they received. This could help you in determining the minimum leave you could go in asking for, and can also provide moral support in requesting what you need in general.

Go in with a plan and be clear on what you're requesting

Go into the meeting with all the information you need, including research on who you're negotiating with, so you know how to navigate the meeting based on their style or history with the matter. The more prepared you are, the better able you'll be to make your case in negotiating maternity leave.

Before requesting leave, or even bringing up the subject, get clear on how much time you'd like to take, and plan for more than you think you might need. It's better to come back early than to request an extension when you realize your desire to have more time to spend with your newborn.

Also, try to come from a “benefit to the company” approach versus an “exception to policy” approach — the latter is often an uncomfortable stance for companies. There's a lot of decent research that shows that organizations that offer maternity leave to new moms have a higher retention rate. The National Partnership for Women & Families has published some good statistics on offering paid leave in a 2015 Fact Sheet, Paid Family and Medical Leave: Good for Business. You can share this type of info with your manager to support your case.

Leave your desk in good hands

When you're requesting leave, it can help if your manager knows you're willing to check in every so often to keep him or her up to date on your status. Checking in does not imply that you agree to do any work, as you want to be careful not to make that commitment unless you truly want to. However, it can provide peace of mind to your manager that you're still in the game and plan to return to work.

Going to your manager with a detailed plan of action and coverage while you're out will help ease his or her mind about how your work will be covered and by whom. It will also help you prepare for your leave with less stress knowing all your bases will be covered while you're out. The more you can show that you're leaving major projects and day-to-day activities and tasks in good hands, the better.

Offer to attend important meetings

If you can manage, it might help you score a win if you offer to come in for important meetings that are on the schedule. For example, if there's major project-planning meeting or a big vendor meeting and you're an account manager, you can offer to attend those meetings while on leave, assuming you're available and well enough to do so. Maybe consider calling in for the meetings as well.

Consider part-time work

I have a couple of friends who decided to return to work part time after each of their second children were born. This allowed them to remain in the good graces of the company while also having more time to stay at home with their children. If you can afford to and you know you'd like more time, find out if this might be an option for you. Going from leave to part time to full time later down the road is also a great way to ease back into the workplace after having a child, especially because going back at full speed can be a difficult transition for many.  

Be ready to renegotiate

There's a good chance you might not get everything you ask for, so be ready to negotiate and come up with alternative solutions to support your leave.

Related: 7 Powerful Ways You Can Improve Your Negotiation Skills

Keep things in perspective

It's not always easy to get additional leave, especially if it's outside of policy or the policy states it's at the discretion of management. When negotiating maternity leave, know this going in and give it your best shot. Again, the more prepared and clear you are about what you need, the better. Also, if the organization is short on staff, is a newer organization, or you've had recent poor reviews or disciplinary action, all of these factors might impact whether or not you're approved.

Keep your priorities in mind

When negotiating for maternity leave, it can be helpful to keep in mind what your priorities are. For most who are starting or growing a family, it's their children. We tend to have more regrets when we don't make choices or take a stand for the things that are important to us. That's not to say that work is not a priority because it is for many, but not more of a priority than their children, especially newborns. Making money to feed those children is also a priority, of course. My point is that it's OK to ask for extra time to spend with your newborn if that's a priority for you, because if you don't, you might feel regret that you didn't at least try. Though you might not get approved for everything you ask for, you can feel good knowing you spoke up out of respect for yourself and your priorities about what you needed.

Before negotiating maternity leave, get a sense for the list above, and think through your personal circumstances and the organization you work for. Then decide what will be best for you.

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