Author of "Survival Guide for Working Parents," which went into its second printing within a month of release, to speak at a night session for companies with Mitsubishi Electric's work-life balance support representative.

With Midwife Inc. (Headquarters: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, Representative Director: Seigetsu Kishihata) will be a speaker at the night session for corporate HR managers, "Creating an Organization Where Working Parents Thrive - A Night Session for Companies to Consider the Future of Work-Life Balance Support," to be held on Thursday, July 2, 2026, in Kyobashi, Tokyo.

At this event, Seigetsu Kishihata, author of the book "Survival Guide for Working Parents: A Life Strategy for Those Who Want to Cherish Both Parenting and Work," which was decided to go into its second printing within one month of release, will discuss the future of work-life balance support that companies should prepare for, alongside a work-life balance support representative from Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.

With Midwife has been involved as a supervisor in the renewal of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation's "Work and Childcare Balance Handbook" for employees, drawing on their specialized knowledge as midwives. Based on the reality of working parents (hereinafter referred to as "hata-oya") and practical knowledge of corporate support conveyed in the book, this event will update HR and management on "future work-life balance support" that they need to know.

Key Points of the News:

● Seigetsu Kishihata, author of "Survival Guide for Working Parents," which went into its second printing within one month of release, will be speaking!

● Sharing the current state of work-life balance support in companies, incorporating insights from supervising Mitsubishi Electric's "Work and Childcare Balance Handbook."

● For HR, DE&I promotion managers, and management, sharing the "reality of working parents" and "practical support" that goes beyond just system development.

● The event will be held on Thursday, July 2, 2026, from 7:00 PM at TODA HALL & CONFERENCE TOKYO.

Background of the Event | Preventing Working Parents from Burning Out Solely Through "Individual Effort"

The image of working parents being chased by the "time monster" to do everything.

Working while raising children is no longer unusual.

The increase in dual-income households, the spread of paternity leave, balancing work and caregiving, career development for working women, and the management burden on supervisors. The environment surrounding workers is changing significantly, and work-life balance support is no longer just a benefit for some employees, but a management issue that affects organizational sustainability and corporate value.

However, simply establishing systems does not automatically alleviate the difficulties faced by working parents.

Pregnancy, childbirth, returning to work, childcare applications, the "first-grade wall," children's illnesses, caregiving, career anxieties...

Workers' lives are filled with multiple overlapping life events. Each time, individuals must simultaneously manage family adjustments, workplace explanations, system inquiries, discussions with supervisors, work handovers, health management, and childcare or family care.

Moreover, much of this burden is invisible to the workplace.

It happens outside of work hours, is handled within the family, and only the words "I'm fine" reach the workplace. Systems exist but are difficult to use. Support is available but it's hard to ask for help. Managers want to support but don't know how far they can go.

As a result, working parents, with the desire to "do both parenting and work well," end up carrying the burden solely through their own efforts and quietly burn out.

Companies are required to do more than just provide systems.

It is about creating a state where employees are not isolated when facing life events, do not give up on their careers, and can continue to achieve results as a team. It is also about fostering an organizational culture where managers can have open conversations with both "consideration" and "expectations."

This event will discuss the future of work-life balance support that companies need to know and prepare for now, in order to prevent working parents from burning out solely through "individual effort," based on the reality of working parents conveyed in "Survival Guide for Working Parents," which went into its second printing within one month of release, and the practical knowledge of corporate support gained through supervising Mitsubishi Electric's "Work and Childcare Balance Handbook."

"Survival Guide for Working Parents" - Second Printing Within One Month of Release

"Survival Guide for Working Parents: A Life Strategy for Those Who Want to Cherish Both Parenting and Work" (Bunkosha)

"Survival Guide for Working Parents: A Life Strategy for Those Who Want to Cherish Both Parenting and Work" (Bunkosha) is by Seigetsu Kishihata, who has faced the voices of working parents as a midwife, public health nurse, and nurse, and as the representative director of "THE CARE," a work-life balance support service for companies.

This book organizes the concerns and conflicts that working parents often face during life events such as pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, returning to work, and career development, from the perspective of real voices of those involved and professional insights.

To ensure that the desire to "cherish both parenting and work" is not confined to individual grit or domestic effort, accumulated know-how has been compiled.

This book contains information that can serve as hints for considering future work-life balance support not only for working parents themselves but also for corporate HR managers, supervisors, and executives.

Following its release, it received positive feedback from working parents and corporate stakeholders, leading to a second printing within one month of release. Furthermore, two months after its publication, it reached number one on the weekly rankings at Maruzen Marunouchi Main Store and Kinokuniya Bookstore Shinjuku Main Store.

Insights into the Current State of Corporate Support from Supervising Mitsubishi Electric's "Work and Childcare Balance Handbook"

Mitsubishi Electric's "Work and Childcare Balance Handbook"

Since 2025, With Midwife's wellness coordinators have been supporting the health and life event concerns of employees and their families at Mitsubishi Electric's Kansai Branch.

*Wellness Coordinators are national-license-holding medical professionals, such as nurses, midwives, and public health nurses, who are active within the employee support service "THE CARE" and possess knowledge of career support and labor affairs.

With Midwife has now been involved as a supervisor in the renewal of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation's "Work and Childcare Balance Handbook" for employees, drawing on their expertise in addressing the real voices of employees and their specialized knowledge as midwives.

This handbook has been revamped with the aim of maximizing Mitsubishi Electric's organizational performance through work and childcare balance support. It aims to reduce employees' anxieties about work-life balance through consolidated knowledge and organizational common understanding, while also fostering a culture where each individual can value both their life events and career development, even with constraints on time and work styles.

Furthermore, the handbook has undergone a significant structural overhaul from its previous format, now consisting of two parts: an employee version and a manager version. It also provides knowledge for both fathers and mothers balancing work and family, organized according to life event phases such as preconception, pregnancy, childbirth, parental leave, and the return to work. The manager version also includes perspectives on management to create results as a team, while considering the family situation of each subordinate.

Through this supervision, it has become clear that corporate work-life balance support is moving from the stage of "establishing systems" to the stage of "creating a state where both individuals and teams can achieve results while utilizing these systems."

Childrearing is no longer something faced only by employees with specific attributes.

In an era where everyone, regardless of gender, bears family responsibilities, companies are required to have designs that support both individual life events and career development as a management strategy.

Event Overview

What will be discussed at this event:

At this event, we will discuss the future of work-life balance support, based on the reality of working parents conveyed in "Survival Guide for Working Parents" and the corporate support knowledge gained through supervising Mitsubishi Electric's "Work and Childcare Balance Handbook."

The main themes are planned as follows:

● What is the structure that leads to working parents burning out?

● Why is work-life balance still difficult even with existing systems?

● The reality of pregnancy, childbirth, returning to work, and childcare periods that HR and managers need to know.

● Shifting from "father support" and "mother support" to "support for employees who bear family responsibilities."

● Unconscious biases that managers tend to fall into.

● The perspective of viewing work-life balance support as "organizational performance" rather than "employee benefits."

● Points for corporate implementation observed from the creation of Mitsubishi Electric's work-life balance handbook.

● What companies can do starting tomorrow to prevent working parents from feeling isolated.

Support does not reach the front lines by simply establishing systems. What should HR design, what should managers know, and what assumptions should the entire organization hold?

This event will consider future work-life balance support from both the perspective of supporting individuals and corporate implementation.

Event Details

Event Title:

Creating an Organization Where Working Parents Thrive - A Night Session for Companies to Consider the Future of Work-Life Balance Support

Date and Time:

Thursday, July 2, 2026, 19:00 onwards

Venue:

TODA HALL & CONFERENCE TOKYO

4th Floor, TODA BUILDING, 1-7-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Target Audience:

Corporate HR and DE&I promotion managers, supervisors, executives, and those interested in work-life balance support.

Speakers:

Seigetsu Kishihata (Representative Director, With Midwife Inc. / Midwife, Public Health Nurse, Nurse)

Sho Yoshikawa (Manager, DE&I Promotion Group, Culture Transformation Office, Human Resources & Culture Transformation Division, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)

Details and Registration:

Please check the Peatix event page.

https://hataoyanight.peatix.com/

Speaker Comments

Seigetsu Kishihata, Representative Director, With Midwife Inc. / Midwife, Public Health Nurse, Nurse

For a long time, corporate support for working parents has involved providing systems like leave and reduced hours, and then leaving the rest to "the individual's effort" or "managing it within the family."

However, through supporting over 2,500 working parent cases and interviewing over 1,000 working parents for my writing, I have come to feel that this approach has reached its limit.

Raising children, caring for family, and cherishing one's career should not be things that require choosing one and giving up the others.

Yet, in reality, working parents are struggling daily to research systems, explain to their supervisors, adjust within their households, respond to their children's illnesses, and suppress their own career anxieties.

My involvement in Mitsubishi Electric's work-life balance handbook has reinforced my belief that work-life balance support is not just about kindness, but a management theme for strengthening the organization.

It is necessary not only to establish systems but also for managers to understand the reality, for HR to gather feedback from the front lines and create structures that enable success, and for the entire company to reframe "life events as not interruptions to one's career."

In this night session, I want to connect the reality of individuals conveyed in "Survival Guide for Working Parents" with Mr. Yoshikawa's practical knowledge of advancing work-life balance support in corporate settings, and together with everyone, consider the updates needed for future companies.

Let's not leave working parents alone anymore. Let's not leave work-life balance solely to individual effort.

I hope this will be an opportunity to create such an organization together.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Human Resources & Culture Transformation Division, Culture Transformation Office,

DE&I Promotion Group, Assistant Manager

Sho Yoshikawa

At Mitsubishi Electric, we view work and childcare balance support not merely as employee benefits, but as a crucial management issue for maximizing organizational performance.

The core of the new handbook, supervised by Ms. Kishihata, is "autonomy" for each employee and "dialogue" in the workplace.

We are further evolving into an organization that can transform life events into opportunities to gain new strengths, rather than viewing them as career stagnation. To achieve this, we have incorporated Ms. Kishihata's expert perspective and elevated the handbook into an "infrastructure for dialogue."

In this night session, we will delve into concrete approaches for transforming "frameworks" like systems into "effective support" that functions on the ground from tomorrow.

We aim to update the standard for future work-life balance support together with everyone, by combining Ms. Kishihata's "survival techniques" with our company's "journey of organizational transformation."

About With Midwife Inc.

With Midwife Inc. aims to realize a future where "not even a single life that could not be born is left behind," and provides services such as prenatal and postpartum care, childcare support, and work-life balance support for companies, utilizing the expertise of medical professionals like midwives, nurses, and public health nurses.

For companies, we offer "THE CARE," a health and childcare support program that accompanies employees and their families. Medical professionals provide online and in-person support for issues related to workers' life events, including pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, caregiving, women's health, and mental health.

We also operate "Jicca Nakano," a postpartum care apartment in Nakano, Tokyo, that specifically supports families in the early postpartum period.

Company Name: With Midwife Inc.

Representative: Seigetsu Kishihata, Representative Director

Location: QUINTBRIDGE 303, 4-15-82 Higashinodacho, Miyakojima-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture

Business Activities: Prenatal and postpartum care, childcare support, work-life balance support services for companies, etc.

Official Website: https://withmidwife.jp/