"POLISER HAR VÄL BLIVIT GRAVIDA FÖRUT" : En studie om att som polis i yttre tjänst bli mamma

Sammanfattning: After pregnancy and maternity leave some women choose to quit their jobs as police officers out on the streets. In this study ten women from the same police district has been interviewed about their experiences of as a woman and police officer becoming a mum. The study includes the period from when the woman tells her boss that she´s pregnant, trough the temporary work assignment during pregnancy, maternity leave, the return to work and to the time when she´s back in original duty. The study clearly shows that the experiences is both positive and negative. Some experienced the period at work during pregnancy as meaningful and developing for their competence, some experienced the opposite. The study shows that influence of desicions about the temporary duty and the welcoming to the new group are important factors for making it a positive experience. During maternity leave some of the women felt forgotten and experienced loss of membership to their original work group. The study shows that it is important to be offered educations and being informed about vacant jobs even during pregnancy and maternity leave. The interviewed women pointed out a number of factors they see as most important for a positive experience being a mum and a police officer out in the streets. They rank understanding from bosses and colleagues high. When you become a parent you need to get the family life and work life to work together to be able to keep your original job. If the Police department work for these women the experience of being back in duty has a good chance to be positive. It´s important to make sure they don´t loose the membership in their original work group during pregnancy and maternity leave, that they don´t miss out om education and vacant jobs and that they get a good introduction when coming back to duty. In that way maybe the chanses increases that she´s not necessarily the one who changes her work situation if the family life doesn´t work out.