A Facebook data scientist has revealed she left the social media giant only eight months into her role after the company refused her part-time hours, the opportunity to work from home or additional unpaid maternity leave to bond with her child.

Eliza Khuner was five months pregnant when she started at Mark Zuckerberg's social media empire in November 2017 but ultimately they parted ways in July 2018 when she felt the job would interfere with her ability to be a present mother, she wrote in a Wired opinion piece.

The Berkeley, California mom had raised two children, Jonah and Jeremy, before giving birth to her little girl in March.

Eliza Khuner was five months pregnant when she started at Mark Zuckerberg's social media empire in November 2017 but they parted ways in July 2018

Khuner raised two other children, Jonah and Jeremy, before she joined Facebook in November 2017 and went through the 'heartache of a break-up' as she quit Facebook

However after four months of maternity leave Khuner admitted she felt like she'd be betraying her daughter by leaving her all day with a nanny.

It's considered a generous amount for an American company, which isn't required to pay new mothers during their time off and usually only allow up to 12 weeks out of office.

But with four months at home - the minimum term in European Union companies - she also struggled with the idea of only getting six hours sleep if juggling a full time role and new-born baby duties was to become her reality.

'When I told Facebook I wanted to work from home part-time, HR was firm: You can't work from home, you can't work part-time, and you can't take extra unpaid leave,' she wrote in the article, adding that she 'went through the heartache of a break-up' when she resigned.

After sharing why she made her decision to resign in an internal group for Facebook employees globally, she didn't expect to receive more than 5,500 responses from women and men, some of whom felt they'd also struggled with parenting decisions as a result of their demanding roles at the company.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg maintained that employees would have to wait for a change in the way they approach family-work balance but gives new parents $4,000

Childcare expenses are partially reimbursed at Facebook, and there are many lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers (Zuckerberg is pictured with his wife Priscilla and two children)

The father-of-two (pictured with Max center December 2016) never fails to miss a birthday or show followers he's a great dad

He captioned a December 2016 Facebook snap: 'Taking paternity leave to spend time with our growing family'

Zuckerberg has demonstrated how important it is for parents to be present as their children grow up, writing 'Baby cuddles are the best' in September 2017 with baby August

He wrote September 2017: 'I think Max is really starting to take after me since I've been on paternity leave'

Some women admitted they'd frozen their eggs because while they yearned to be a mother, they couldn't afford to give up their job to take care of a child.

Khuner noted that even Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's Chief Operating Officer and first female board member, said allowing new mothers to work part-time would put too much of a strain on the rest of the team.

Sandberg became a single mother of two children after her husband Dave Goldberg passed away in 2015.

Goldberg is known for being a women's rights advocate and is one of the inspirations behind Sandberg writing her book Lean In.

The literature has served as a guide for many women on why speaking up in the workplace is so important for female progression.

When Khuner had the opportunity to confront CEO Zuckerberg himself during a weekly Q&A session, even holding her sleeping baby on her chest as she pressed him to change the structure, it did not help, she wrote.

Khuner recalled how she told him take his own advice and be bold by referencing 'What would you do if you weren't afraid?' posters around the Facebook campus.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO and first female board member, said allowing new mothers to work part-time would put too much of a strain on the rest of the team

Khuner's story brought in a range of supportive comments on her personal Facebook too

Users shared how they thought she was brave for revealing her story and quitting her job

Khuner wrote that she told him: '"I want to know: Would you give us part-time, work-from-home, and extended leave options right now, not later; would you lead this company and the US in supporting working parents; would you give us the chance to show you how kick-ass and loyal we can be with fewer hours at the desk, if you weren't afraid?"'

Zuckerberg maintained that employees would have to wait for a change in the way they approach family-work balance but Khuner mentioned Facebook supports parents in other ways.

A $4,000 handout goes to new moms and dads, childcare expenses are partially reimbursed, and there are many lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers.

But it's not a substitute for precious time spent with children she concluded.

It's something Zuckerberg should agree with. He regularly shows off his family on his own Facebook profile, documenting his paternity leaves with daughters August and Maxima in 2016 and 2017.

He also shares snaps of himself never failing to miss birthdays and various specious occasions with his little girls and wife Priscilla.

Khuner thinks flexibility will lead to companies like Facebook saving money in the long run by retaining staff and having employees who are willing to put more into the jobs that are giving back to them.

There might even be a chance of her making a return in the future.

She finished the article: 'I told Facebook when they make that change, they know where to find me.'