Could you tell us about the age of your child and your experience with maternity and parental leave?

My son is now 2 years old. I took a month of maternity leave before giving birth and four months of parental leave. My son was probably the youngest baby ever at his daycare! I love science, so I really wanted to return to my research.

How did taking maternity and parental leave affect your research?

I was very fortunate to have a supervisor (Associate Professor Makoto Ikeya, CiRA) who was understanding and supportive, so I did not feel pressure at all to return to work. However, I did experience sleep deprivation and various mood or hormonal changes, so it was tough to return to my work as a researcher because we heavily depend on our brains and often face frustrations from failed experiments and so on. Even though I only took five months off for maternity and parental leave, it likely took over a year and a half before getting fully adjusted to life as a researcher and a new parent.

How do you balance childcare and research?

With a lot of planning ahead and teamwork with my husband. My husband, a researcher in the industry, and I share all childcare responsibilities. We typically have weekly and monthly plans, but advanced planning is always necessary for business trips. While it is vital to our work as researchers to attend conferences and meetings to promote our research, they can be difficult, especially when we travel abroad.

The discretionary labor system is super helpful because we can work flexible hours, and depending on the situation, I coordinate with my husband, so I take care of our son in the morning, for example, and come to CiRA in the afternoon or evening to do my work for the day.

Over time, I also learned how to manage my work better and delegate some tasks to technical staff or students in the lab. I am very thankful for their help.

What support systems at Kyoto University or in Kyoto City have been helpful? Is there anything else that was beneficial?

Paid leave for childcare is a lifesaver because otherwise, I would have used up all my paid holidays to take care of my son when he is sick. Babies often get sick without warning, and as foreigners in Japan, we do not have family and as many close friends to depend on in case of emergencies, so having paid leave specifically for childcare is fantastic.

Are there any improvements you wish to see in workplace support for parenting?

Since the childcare facility at Kyoto University, KuSuKu, is available only for weekends and long school holidays, I wish a standard daycare facility on campus could be made widely available to parents who study or work here. I was fortunate to have gotten my son into daycare because I would otherwise have had to take longer parental leave. It would be nice if some after-school daycare or activities could be available for kids because I now wonder what I will do when my son starts elementary school and finishes classes before I finish work. If something is available on campus, it would make my life a lot easier.

In addition, an educational program for supervisors, especially males, on how to treat women before and after childbirth would be supportive and encouraging for everyone who is or plans to become a parent. I was blessed to have tremendous support from my supervisor and others I work with, but some training would be ideal because it might not be the case for everyone.

What are some differences between parenting in Japan and your home country?

In Venezuela, my home country, most major universities have childcare facilities for the children of their students and staff. In addition, universities are more welcoming for parenting staff and students to bring their children to work with them, for example, after school or on holidays and weekends.

Japan provides new mothers with extended maternity and parental leave, but the main challenge starts when parents apply for daycare for their newborns so they can return to work. So, making childcare available in Japan to anyone who needs it should be a priority and not only limited to parents who are working full-time and do not have grandparents nearby.