'Moms are persona non grata': are tech startups hostile to working mothers?

From all-nighters at the office to insensitive male coworkers, working mothers and mothers-to-be often describe the tech world as hostile to their needs

Sara Mauskopf was nine months pregnant and about to go on maternity leave, when her boss, the Postmates CEO Bastian Lehmann, mentioned her by name at an all-hands meeting: staff would no longer be able to use one of the company's conference rooms, Lehmann said, because Mauskopf would need it pump breast milk when she returned to work.

"I felt very called out and embarrassed," recalled Mauskopf, who was the delivery startup's director of product at the time. "It singled me out as the reason for the conversion and made me feel like I was taking something away from everyone."