Every week, I see another ‘return-to-work survival guide’ or ‘how to juggle career and motherhood’ article. And while advice can be useful, it often misses the point: mothers don’t need more survival strategies.

What we really need is a shift in where the guidance is directed.

• People managers need guides on how to support women through maternity leave and their return without bias or assumptions.
• HR teams need guides on creating policies that genuinely protect parents, not just tick compliance boxes.
• Organisations need guides on tackling the motherhood penalty and embedding flexibility as standard, not as a perk.
• Partners need guides on what shared responsibility truly looks like at home.

Working mothers are already resilient. What’s missing is accountability from the systems and structures around us.

It’s time to stop publishing guides on how mothers should ‘cope’ and start writing guides for those with the power to change the experience.