For many, the joy of finding out you're going to be a parent is soon overshadowed by the stress of logistics. Should you go back to work earlier after having a baby, or spend more time with your newborn?
Can you do both? It's an impossible dilemma. A mum may need more time to recover - physically and mentally - from childbirth, but doing so is likely to affect her career and her finances.
Many employers are starting to offer extended, paid maternity leave. These policies can be a financial lifeline for many new parents, especially those on statutory pay or government maternity allowance.
But a new study suggests that taking a longer maternity leave can actually cause harm to women's careers in the long run.
An international group of researchers, including Ivona Hideg, a professor of organisation studies at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School, set out to explore the factors holding women back in the workplace.
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"The other negative career outcomes that we found in our work are lower perception of leadership effectiveness and lower chances of being hired or promoted."
"Parental leaves are seen as a way to promote gender equity at work by enabling women to balance family and career domains," she explains. "It's an imperative in men-dominated fields like tech and finance where work-family conflict tends to be amplified by long hours and high demand cultures in such fields.
"However, it's in men-dominated industries in particular where women are penalised for taking extended leaves.
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"So, paradoxically, men-dominated fields tend to offer generous parental leaves to attract and retain women in the workforce, but at the same time they penalise them for taking such leaves."
Considering a quarter of new mums are forced to return to work earlier than they'd like to because of financial worries, it's clear extended leave policies are necessary. Going back to work before you're ready can cause stress, guilt, physical complications, anxiety, low mood and can affect how you bond with your child.
However, there are steps employers can take to ensure women don't pay the price for taking time off.
First, Hideg advises employers to take a look at their decision-making processes when it comes to career opportunities, pay rises and promotions.
"Managers and decision-makers should be aware that women may face biased post-leave evaluations, even when their qualifications and performance are equivalent to their peers who have not taken leave," she says.