My son was born in 2016 and I took full maternity leave. During this time he had open heart surgery which he was not expected to survive and faced a number of other issues relating to his disability. When I was due to return I contacted HR to ask for support and received a nasty letter from the director asking why I deserved special treatment as it was not their issue that my son had underlying health issues. I was then signed off by my GP and spent the next 12 months complying with OT and HR in order to get back to work. I had been a senior manager but my job had been given to a man in my absence. I was offered a 15 hour per week job to replace my old post. This would have meant attempting to solve 20+ years of recruitment issues with no budget and in 15 hours a week, an impossible task. The union was no use at all and I felt completely pressured into leaving. I had seen the same tactics used on others and did not feel I had the strength or resources to fight. I am now living on benefits and struggling to find work which is soul destroying.