When to start maternity leave....

anamaria

Hi ladies,

First time pregnant and have no idea when is the best time to go out on maternity leave. I know it has to be a minimum of 2 weeks before the birth, but apart from that I haven't any idea what to do. Obviously I would like to have as much time as possible after but don't want to be pushing myself if it's not practical.

Any insights or advice.?

foodaholic

Depends on the type of job you have ( how physical, stressful ect) and how well your keeping.

I personally only took the min beforehand as I wanted as much time afterwards.

Plus if you where overdue you could nearly be a month on maternity leave before babs arrives

angeldelight

I worked right up until 38 weeks but I don't work a 5 day week so it wasn't too bad. I'd say a lot of it depends on your job - is it particularly stressful, are you on your feet a lot, do you have a long commute? No need to answer these here but something to think about. Even if you do decide to work up until 38 weeks there is always the possibility of being signed off sick if work is having a negative impact on your health at the end

Dobbit

I am working right up til the end in a moderately stressful desk job but I have a very flexible company who allowed me a parking space for the last 3 months and to work from home whenever I wanted. I also agreed a handover plan that meant I had 2 weeks breathing space before I left. I'm sure I could have done it without all those things but it would have been harder. Plus I've had a totally complication free pregnancy so that allowed me to work more easily.

Jerrica

I had every intention of working right til the very end but got signed off work when I was 37 or so weeks. Towards the end of the pregnancy I was only sleeping ~4 hours a night and has having trouble sitting at my desk as baby's head was very low and uncomfortable. With a med cert covering me I didn't lose any of my official maternity leave though.

pwurple

Leave it as late as you can.

Now, I know that isn't practical for everyone. If you end up with SPD, or gestational diabetes, or any of the million other things that make standing up or walking around impossible. But, if you get those, try sick leave instead of mat leave.

On my first pregnancy, I finished up 2 weeks before due date. I proceeded to go 2 weeks overdue. 4 weeks of mat leave used up with no baby. I should have asked the GP to fudge the dates a bit for me so I could have worked longer.

On my second pregnancy it worked out better. Finished work a day or two before I was induced.

lazygal

What stage are you at? First time I was off two weeks before due date, but due to complications I was scheduled for a c section the week before my due date. I had a week to myself and it was perfect timing. Second time I was signed off sick two weeks before I was due to go on maternity leave, and then I went a week over so I was off for five weeks, but my GP and consultant weren't happy to have me working. So it depends really.

dekey

Maternity leave doesn't have to start 2 weeks before due date. It has to start a minimum of 2 weeks before the end of the week your due and a week runs Sun-Sat so for example I was due on a Monday so to calculate when I had to finish I used the date of the Friday and counted back 2wks from then. It meant I finished up work 9 days before my due date. I was lucky in that I work at a desk with very little of a commute and close to both home and my maternity hospital and was in good health. I ended up going a week over so was still off for over 2wks before lo arrived and tbh I was going crazy with boredom by the end so glad I worked as long as I could. It's also meant I've had an extra week with baby before I have to go back and it's also one less week of creche payment I'll have to make.

anamaria

Thanks ladies. I'm 20 weeks at the moment. Had an appointment with the mid wife the other day and she recommended 4 weeks. I think that was based on my medical history.

irishgirl19

I'm due to finish work at 38 weeks, I'm 36 weeks now and sorry I didn't opt to go earlier. I'm exhausted even though I don't have a physically straining job

Millem

I would leave it as late as possible. Like another poster said could you get a cert if you had to go earlier? I only managed to work something like 10 days of my pregnancy as I was so sick
Lots of girls in work get certs near the end as they are very tired, big and uncomfortable

Ginger Power

Can i ask then how it works if you want to take the 16 weeks unpaid, do you take that straight after your maternity leave or do you have to take your holidays first? My work place is very slow coming forward on this as they trying stop my holidays from end of September even though im not going on maternity leave till end of October

Typer Monkey

I work in the public sector so not sure if mine is the universal experience but I took 16 weeks unpaid directly after my maternity leave and then an additional month in accrued annual leave so was off for 11 months altogether.

I would be very slow to start my maternity leave early. I was over a week overdue so had almost a month of maternity leave gone before I was even home with a baby. If you need to stop working for medical reasons before the mandatory two weeks before due date, I would be getting a sick cert. your maternity leave goes so quickly, you'll be very glad of the time with the baby at the other end

ainy

as far as i'm aware you have to go from paid leave to unpaid, can't take holidays and then unpaid leave.
I would advise take the minimum before and if you're not able to work up until that point get your gp to sign you off sick, I don't think any gp would have a problem doing that!

Allirog

That's right Ainy, you take your holiday after unpaid leave.


I was due to finish on maternity leave on May 22nd and I was due June 11th but with complications I was out of work since April 14th but I'm glad I had some time beforehand as I really needed it but that was because I was exhausted from the complications.