Abstract
While becoming a mother is an incredible blessing, it can also be a very stressful time for women. India has a unique cultural and economic diversity, with women facing distinct challenges in their role as new mothers, including family obligations and a tendency toward a patriarchal mindset. This research aims to identify the unique stress factors related to motherhood stress for a new working mother in the IT sector and to create a scale to measure these factors. The study employed a mix of qualitative methods, such as focus group discussions, and quantitative research methods, including a pilot survey among 115 mothers, to develop a new scale for motherhood stress. Four main factors were identified through exploratory factor analysis: career-related stress, adequacy of support systems, maternal guilt, and self-efficacy. A new 31-item scale is proposed. Internal consistency, reliability, and validity were established for all items on the scale, with a KMO value of 0.826 and a Cronbach's alpha of 0.840. This new scale will be a useful tool for organizations to understand motherhood stress among newly working mothers and to adopt practices that reduce stress and address prejudices through interventions such as anti-discrimination policies, managerial sensitization, flexible work options, career counseling, and peer support. For policymakers, this study highlights the need for an industrial policy that recognizes the cultural setting and the unique challenges faced by Indian working mothers, as well as the importance of rigorous enforcement of maternity policies to ensure equitable treatment for them.