Lucy Powell Quotes

I have always felt that my career was not going to be a straight shot up, but more of a kind of rolling wave, so that I could raise my children. So I got pregnant when I was the head of production at a studio, and I became chairperson at a bigger studio when I was pregnant with my second daughter. You just do it!

When I was pregnant during my time in Parliament, I was frequently asked by the media how I would manage being an MP and a mum, as if the two are somehow mutually exclusive.

I will take a short time out from being in Parliament when the baby is born but I'll still be doing my constituency work - just with another baby in tow.

I had the experience last year of directing my first feature while I had a 1-year-old son and while I was also pregnant, so I am now well aware of the difficulties women who are rearing children face when they're also trying to make headway in mainstream of film.

Being a new mother was a joyful and sometimes overwhelming experience - and as the first Missouri female state legislator to have a baby while in office, having heath care for myself and my son gave me some needed peace of mind.

Some women work while they are pregnant, but not me. That was a choice I had made. That's when I took a break. Men can work at whatever stage they are; whether they turn daddy, they still have their own thing. But women can't afford that because by being mothers, they have to be there for their kids.

I do think there is something to be said for those who have significant experience at state level and have run campaigns or have been deeply involved in grass roots political campaigns and who have actual hands-on experience.

It's just heaven to be a mom, and a working mom, and a pregnant person in Shondaland.

I have always wanted to run for Attorney General, and I always wanted to have a baby, but I did not think I would be doing them at the same time.

I am no different from so many professionals who go on maternity leave only towards the end of their pregnancy.

I think it's been lovely the way people have been really supportive in parliament of my pregnancy.

You don't have to wait for your career to take off to become a mum: that's kind of what I want to show. Becoming a mum made me even more driven, and I think it doesn't stop your career - it just boosts it. It makes you well-organised, and with a little bit of sacrifice, of course you can do it all.

Every working mother struggles with the BlackBerry, knowing the boss can call.

I adore going to movie sets and being part of a team trying to create something. And yet, I hate to miss even one bedtime with my girls. . . My sisters both are working mothers. I understand that my being an actress as well as being at home isn't some heroic thing. That doesn't mean it isn't confusing or difficult--especially that question of how you find a balance.

There is no school that teaches you how to run a state. You make mistakes, but you learn on the job.

I think, now that I am a mother, I look at other mums like Jo Pavey and just mums that go back to work and work incredibly hard, and I have so much admiration and appreciation for how hard it is.

I'd say just go with the flow. And I take my hat off to any mother out there who works full-time and raises a family as well. It's hard work.

Becoming a mom makes politics real. Whether it's education policies, health care policies, family leave - it informs your decision-making.

I want to work, but the balance to find between working and being a mom is challenging.

My advice to moms that have to go to work is to just be easy on yourself and know that you're doing the best you can.

Being a former first lady doesn't prepare you to be president.

One thing I always want to clear up was the notion that I 'took time off to have a baby.' A lot people leapt to that conclusion because becoming a parent happened to coincide with film roles tapering off.

Politics demands certain skills honed by experience, just as journalism does, just as acting does.

It is a wrench when you have to go back to work after maternity leave, whether you've had two months or over a year.

'Workin' Moms,' obviously, is about mothers who also work. But we're also expected to remain graceful when we return to work, and that's just impossible.