Are you thinking of having a child, currently pregnant or already a mother of a young child? Then you’ve probably been dealing with unwanted thoughts swirling in your brain about how you’re going to raise kids while also advancing your career.

Many women fear that the decision to have children could derail their career ambitions – and I too once carried those worries with me while contemplating children. But as a recent mother of two children running a health-tech startup, I’m here to tell you that motherhood may be the very boost your career needs.

Sure, becoming a mother undoubtedly means less sleep, less time for yourself and consequently less time to get work done. But here’s a secret I discovered in my motherhood journey that I hope will bring any career-driven woman struggling with the idea of raising kids some peace of mind: becoming a mother equips you with powerful biological attributes, skills and circumstances that could give you a career boost you’d never expect.

Why? Because, becoming a mother births not only a baby, but a new strength and a new sense of self.

Nothing compares to the strength it requires to grow and birth a human. In the words of Rihanna after performing pregnant at Super Bowl LVII this year, “When you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world – you can do anything". She added, “the Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, so as scary as that was, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all.”

Tapping into this strength can drive your career ambition to new levels and give you stamina on workdays that feel exhausting or defeating. Birthing a child is one of the toughest works you’ll ever do – once you’ve done that, is there *anything you cannot do*? (I think not).

Becoming a mother also births a new sense of self. A new woman emerges after childbirth - a woman with a greater sense of purpose and drive who knows her value, her worth, what she wants out of life and the woman she wants to be.

This new sense of self inspires a new mother to dream bigger, align her career with her personal values and beliefs and a new drive to work harder and achieve more - not only for herself, but also for her child to whom she’s instilling her values to dream big. Nothing gets in the way of this woman – she’s a mama bear, and no one messes with mama bear.

Motherhood also develops your time-management skills in a big way. Once you’ve had a child, you’re far more time constrained than you ever were before. This may seem to put you at a big disadvantage, but time constraints force a laser-sharp focus that you may have never had before. It’s a forcing mechanism to prioritize like a champ to get your most important work done. There’s also no time for perfection, which helps you get things done faster and in a surprisingly on-point and efficient way that never could have been done when you used to second-guess yourself and dwell on things to be done perfectly.

Another skill that motherhood can develop is empathy. When you become a mother, you are responsible for the care and well-being of another human being, which requires a deep level of understanding and compassion. This empathy can translate well to the workplace, where you may be working with clients or colleagues who are going through difficult times. By being able to empathize with others, you can build stronger relationships, diffuse conflicts, and find mutually beneficial solutions.

Lastly, motherhood provides us the opportunity to learn important lessons from our children. Children are great teachers and their lessons are abundant. Our children teach us to stay curious, be patient, don’t sweat the small stuff, move on quickly from things that don’t matter and not be afraid of judgment or to try new things – all really important attributes in navigating and leveling up our careers as an adult.

After having two children in 2.5 years, I realized that juggling work and family responsibilities isn’t as disadvantageous as I feared it might be – quite the opposite in fact. I firmly believe that if we look at motherhood through this positive lens, hopefully more women won’t hold back from having kids when they’re ready and decide to move whole-heartedly towards motherhood with strength, conviction, and excitement for how these mama superpowers can propel you forward.

So, if you’re considering starting a family or have recently started one, I hope this gives you conviction and excitement for the unexpected boost that motherhood can provide.