**Business Book Awards 2025 Finalist**

**The People’s Book Prize Longlisted Title 2024/25**

When a working woman becomes a mother, she faces what can seem like an impossible dilemma: how can she continue to excel at work AND be a good mum? In the light of childcare costs, does it even make sense for many women to continue to work at all?

Workplaces need women. And most women want to work – not just for financial security but for personal fulfilment and because their work can often be a key part of their identity.

Working Mother offers simple, practical tools for each stage of this complex but rewarding life change, allowing you to become the coach you need by your side every step of the way.

A must-have resource for expecting or new working moms.’ – Library Journal

Full of useful and thought provoking reflection exercises, alongside real-life stories and helpful suggestions. Empathy oozes from the pages – acknowledgement of the challenges, a sense of solidarity and unwavering support. I’d highly recommend this to anyone who is about to become (or has recently become) a working parent. – Amazon 5*

An absolute must read for working parents. The tools for self coaching are fantastic, simple and leave you feeling reassured. I loved this book! – Amazon 5*

This is a book that every organisation should be giving all employees who become parents. This book is a practical guide in helping women not only survive but thrive. – Amazon 5*

Finally, a book that talks to working mothers with warmth, wit and intelligence! Rachel’s nail-on-head insights are wise and honest. Her experience as a coach and knowledge of psychology adds real depth to this book. With easy-to-follow support, good humour and heaps of sense, this book is a tonic for those of us who have both work and play-doh in our lives – Shaparak Khorsandi, Writer and Comedian

A working mother’s survival guide! I wish I’d had this book when I was pregnant, and then experiencing the emotions, challenges and mental load that comes with juggling motherhood in all stages as well as a career. To know you are not alone in feeling all the feels is everything when you are in the thick of it! – Louisa Laudham, Chief People Officer, Manolo Blahnik

I flowed through this book in three sittings, and genuinely felt like Rachel was sitting there with me coaching me while I read! I am so excited for all the women this is going to support on so many levels. – Jennifer Shepard, Senior Director, Getty Images

It is the exact book I needed when preparing for my first maternity leave and a must read for all your female colleagues, friends and family members that want to be great mums just as much as they want to continue rocking it in their careers. – Sophie Bishop, HR Director, UK and US, Euronext

For any mother adapting to their ‘new normal’ and for any employer who wants the best of their employees, I urge you to read this book! – Sarah Ray, Head of Podcast Sales, Global Media Entertainment

There’s a huge amount in here not just for mothers but for dads and partners too. Rachel Morris’s empathy, compassion and real insight gave me a different and hugely useful view on the issues so many brilliant working mums face – Jonathan Samuels, Sky News presenter / broadcaster / journalist

Having children is like no other experience… It’s difficult to prepare for, so having techniques and coping mechanisms in place for handling the transition is imperative! This book is full of practical ways to help yourself through the transition and gives the tools you need to take on your new identity. This book is perfect for giving reassurance and knowing that you’re not alone. – Jessica Heagren, Careers After Babies Founder and Author

This is a must have for anyone bringing a baby into their family, whilst committed to continuing their career. The juggle is real, and Rachel helps unpack many of the universal challenges experienced by working mothers. – Elizabeth Cowper, Founder / CEWoMo, Ludo

Balancing career and parenthood is no small challenge, but Rachel Morris brings warmth, empathy, and expertise to make it easier. Working Mother is packed with exercises, real-life stories, and clear guidance that parents can put into action. It’s reassuring, practical, and empowering, the kind of book that makes readers feel seen and supported while juggling it all.

Judges’ remarks from the Business Book Awards 2025

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Table of figures
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part one: Your essential strategies
  • 1: Endings
  • 2: Fear
  • 3: Learning
  • 4: Control
• Part two: Strategies for taking care of yourself
  • 5: Self-care
  • 6: Boundaries
• Part three: Strategies for reconnecting with yourself
  • 7: Values
  • 8: Strengths
  • 9: Motivation
• Part four: Strategies for working with others
  • 10: Effectiveness
  • 11: Communication
• Part five: Strategies for managing milestones
  • 12: Handing over for maternity leave
  • 13: Planning your return to work
  • 14: Navigating your first few months back
• Part six: Strategies for planning your future
  • 15: Your future
  • 16: Your support network
• Conclusion
• Appendices
• Bibliography
• Further reading
• About the author
• Index

FORMAT / ISBN / PUBLICATION DATE / RRP

Paperback / 9781788606158 / September 3, 2024 / £14.99

Hardback / 9781788606141 / September 3, 2024 / £24.99

Ebook / 9781788606172 / September 2, 2024 / £7.99

Paperback and eBook Bundle / £16.99

Rachel Morris

Rachel Morris is a professional accredited business coach with nearly 20 years of coaching experience working with a wide range of professionals.
Over the last 10 years, she has focused on how coaching impacts the parental transition, working with hundreds of working parents as they juggle the arrival of a child, and the looming prospect of these two worlds – work and family – colliding.
Rachel is also a working mother of two young children just over a year apart, returning to work when her firstborn was 6 weeks old. She has hard-earned personal experience of the transition working mothers experience, too.
Workplaces want to retain women, and many women want to work AND have children. Too often both workplaces and women lose out as the juggle proves too hard. Rachel is committed to supporting and empowering this ‘lost population’ – women who have spent years focusing on their profession before having a family and who still want to have a career after having one – through every aspect of her work.