Amid the joys and rewards of having a baby, taking maternity leave can touch off a series of losses at work. Stepping out for childbirth often means giving up perks, status, bosses' attention and bonds with colleagues. All this can make it easier to break the umbilical cord -- the one that once bound you to your job, that is -- and to quit or defect to another employer.

One result for employers has been a damaging loss of skilled employees. Among working mothers who return to work within a year of childbirth, the proportion who go back to the same employer is declining, Census data show.

The mommy drain has become serious enough that a few companies are embracing some real innovations to stop it. These employers, from Bank of America and Accenture to Booz Allen Hamilton and DuPont, are going beyond flexible work arrangements to find solutions to nitty-gritty problems for mothers on leave such as loss of pay, bonuses and career prospects.

A 2005 study of 1,092 companies showed a shift away from offering full pay during maternity leave; only 7% of employers surveyed by Families and Work Institute, New York, offered new mothers any pay at all after the initial six- to eight-week period of medical disability following childbirth. But a separate study, of 87 leading employers recognized for their family-friendly benefits, showed that 59% offer extended maternity-leave pay.

"The companies that are leading edge are" sweetening the pot for mothers, says Ellen Galinsky, the institute's president. Fueling the pattern, says Phil Lacy of consulting firm Towers Perrin, is competition "for all these high-energy women in their late twenties or thirties who are having children."

Some employers are seeing grass-roots demand. Bank of America found in a 2003 survey of more than 100,000 employees that better maternity benefits was a big concern. The company responded by offering as many as eight weeks' parental leave at 100% pay -- not only for mothers, but for fathers as well. Two years ago, PricewaterhouseCoopers also enriched its parental leave plan by adding 15 paid days off to the paid disability period for moms. (Dads get the 15 paid days off, too.)

Other firms are building better alternatives to the Mommy Track. In a plan called "internal rotation," Booz Allen Hamilton is creating weighty internal jobs for consultants who need a break from heavy travel, but still want to do substantive work. After returning from maternity leave, Cindy Vanderlinde-Kopper, who once traveled two to four days a week, switched last year to an internal position as a business-development director. "There have been bumps" in the road clarifying her new role, she says. "But I've been stimulated and interested in what I'm doing, and it allows me to progress" on a career path.

Accenture is helping women extend maternity leaves. Under its "Future Leave" program, the company early this year began helping employees set aside part of their pay in anticipation of financing up to three extra months of leave, with benefits; 12 of the 36 participants so far have been women tacking the time onto their maternity-leave allowances, says Jill Smart, a senior managing director. The program enabled Aimee Wilson, a manager in Seattle, to cobble together a total of 7½ months of time off, including vacation time, with her new baby this year. Ms. Wilson says she had considered quitting, but the long leave, plus returning to work part time, kept her on the job.

Other companies are amending pay-for-performance plans to make sure women aren't unfairly deprived of bonuses and incentives because they are out on disability leave, says Michael Carter, a vice president with Hay Group, a consulting firm. Under such plans, anyone on disability leave -- women on maternity leave tend to be the biggest group -- may risk failing to hit annual targets, even though she may be performing very well while she is at work. Increasingly, Mr. Carter says, employers are pro-rating annual targets, enabling such employees who meet the pro-rated objectives while at work to receive performance rewards.

Many major employers are making improvements in this area. DuPont formalized written policies in 2003 to ensure managers are consistent in giving employees on disability leave the performance rewards they deserve, a spokeswoman says.

To keep mothers in the loop, J.P. Morgan Chase, Ernst & Young and Deloitte & Touche are offering moms discussion boards and mentoring through employee networks run by SelectMinds, a corporate social-networking provider, says Anne Berkowitch, SelectMinds' chief executive. The networks help mothers keep abreast of career opportunities and new developments, she says.

Another strategy: Simply making mothers feel wanted. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta throws parties for expectant mothers with prizes, gifts and a fashion show of corporate maternity wear. "We want you back," Linda Matzigkeit, a senior vice president, tells attendees. The hospital concern is retaining 86% of mothers after maternity leave, up from 63% in 2004 before the showers began. One possible reason, says expectant mom and registered nurse Beverly Alvarez: The events "make us feel like Children's really cares about us."

Email your comments to sue.shellenbarger@wsj.com.

-- October 02, 2006