Employers wont say it because they’ll get in trouble, but they prefer to take a fresh kid off the block with new skills as oppose to mommie who used to do the job 10 years ago when computer programs ran on the old mac’s and old pc’s.
During 7 years maternity leave, one should really come up with ways to keep in touch with something work-related, just so that your resume doesn’t have a huge gap, and you still have marketable skills. It can be something you do part-time, or maybe taking time off to work on another degree, etc.