As a working mom of two kids under 5, pregnant with my third, the strains of pandemic parenthood feel close to home. And as a cofounder of a successful family health and technology organization, I know my struggles pale in comparison to many of the millions of parents we serve each day, including essential workers, single parents, and members of vulnerable populations. Yet as mothers, we're bearing the brunt of this pandemic at home and at work. A full year in, we are still homeschooling our kids and worried about our elderly parents, all the while expected to maintain the same levels of productivity at work, whether that be at home or onsite.

In addition to impacting the long-term financial security and earning power of mothers, the pandemic is fundamentally changing family dynamics, children's wellbeing, and parent mental health. We work with digital depression risk tools like The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the instrument most commonly used to identify depression in postpartum women. We deliver millions of these screenings digitally each year, and the contrast between pre-pandemic EPDS scores and current figures is sobering. We're seeing alarming trends, with more and more scores falling into mild-to-moderate or moderate-to-severe ranges of depression.

Furthermore, first-time mothers and mothers from 35 to 39 years old are at increased risk, and the largest spikes have been reported by BIPOC mothers, including increased suicidal ideation among Black postpartum mothers, compared to white mothers.

Mothers are making impossible choices

I was talking to a working mom recently. She told me about how she has to go into work three times a week and leaves her 12- and 11-year-old children at home by themselves to homeschool. Without any viable or affordable childcare options, she's left with no other choice, worrying not only about the prospect of bringing COVID-19 home to her children, but also about the physical and emotional safety of her kids.

Another mom, working from home since last March, told me she feels like she can't be honest with her boss about the stress she's feeling. There have been no changes to her schedule or workload. She takes on all the domestic duties at home as well: laundry, cooking, monitoring her kids' schoolwork, and much more. She finds herself working every evening now, with no lines drawn between when the workday ends and family time starts. I can relate; I see more of our kids now, but how is that time spent? The pressures, guilt, and seemingly impossible choices the pandemic imposes on working mothers can become too much to bear.

What can employers do to help?

Employers have a responsibility to proactively protect the careers of an entire generation of working moms. And there are those that are leading the way, through meaningful steps and investments in supporting parents through the entire pandemic, from childcare subsidies to paid leave and flexible work schedules.

There are three main things employers can do:

1. Lead with radical empathy

Employers need to find ways to understand and normalize the unique issues parents are facing. They can encourage managers and supervisors to have open communication with their teams, and talk about mental health as a company wide concern rather than an individual's unique problem. Anonymous surveys can help managers and HR understand their workforce's unique challenges and feelings around returning to the office, their work schedules, childcare challenges, and flexibility needs. Manager training on issues like pregnancy support, parental leave, and return-to-work can also be incredibly effective at fostering empathy.

Only when employers understand their unique populations can they make data-driven decisions about what resources parents truly need. Employers should also endeavor to destigmatize mental health at work, working with experts like postpartum RNs and mental health social workers to moderate discussions on topics like parenting amid a pandemic, getting the vaccine when pregnant or breastfeeding, and back-to-school decision support.

2. Invest in family-friendly benefits

During uncertain financial times, some organizations may find it difficult to increase spending on benefits; but we've seen time and time again the positive ROI of investing in programs to increase talent retention. Investments can also take form in providing more time off, flexible schedules, behavioral health programs, parental leave, flexible stipends, and resource groups for parents to provide support for each other. Policies alone, however, aren't enough; they need to be paired with respect and normalization of the issues they're solving. If someone takes advantage of these benefits, it should be celebrated that they're making these changes for their family.

3. Make long-term commitments

Amid so much uncertainty, parents need to know they can rely on their employer not just today, but next year if, for example, there's still no vaccine for infants, or the year after that, they need to take time off to care for a family member still suffering from long-haul COVID-19 symptoms. Temporary stipends and parental leave policies are wonderful, but parents want to know they'll have ongoing support. If anything, this pandemic has shown us that when people don't have trustworthy and cost-effective childcare, digital health programs, and behavioral health benefits, they can't work.

I am hopeful the pandemic will open our nation's eyes for what parents, and especially women, take on in addition to their professional responsibilities. The workforce simply cannot afford to lose a generation of women who are forced to make impossible choices between their professional career and their family's health.

Gina Nebesar is co-founder and chief product officer of Ovia Health.

Read more:

• Women leaving the workforce: A mental health problem
• In an abrupt shift, 1 in 4 women are considering leaving the workforce
• Women in the workplace: What leaders need to do to retain their working mothers