When to start maternity leave??

[trinket]

Hi there
Im going to be a first time mum in september and work full time at the moment. Im trying to decide what date to say I want to start my maternity leave. I want to work for as long as I can so I can have more time off with the baby afterwards, but have no idea realisticly how close to my due date I should work to...have any of you other working mums got any advice as to when you stopped working? any help appreciated.

[bundle]

38 weeks both times, and delivered around 42 weeks

[KeepingMum]

Exactly the same as bundle. Technically my mat leave started on my due date as I used two weeks annual leave before going off. I wanted as much time as possible afterwards

[cece]

I went at 35 weeks with dd - far too early

ds was 37 weeks I think - 38 sounds good but I was barely dragging myself in as it was at 37 weeks!

[Mazzystar]

I finished work 7 weeks before my due date.

I wanted to spend some time alone for what was likely to be the last time in a long time. And I wanted to prepare myself - to have time to unwind from a stressful and demanding workload - and to properly relax. I think this helped enormously with dealing with labour and with the first weeks.

DS arrived 2 weeks early, so I had rather less time than I thought!

[tangerinecath]

I suppose it depends on what you do.
I have a desk job so kept going until 37 weeks.

[Gem13]

It depends on what you do and how much time you are going to get overall.

I had a year off so went off at 33 weeks both times. The first time it was lovely to pamper myself, the second time I really needed it as I had an 18 month to cope with as well.

[Gem13]

18 month old...

[Gem13]

Pamper myself = lying on the sofa watching Wimbledon!

[mousiemousie]

I would say it depends so much on how well your pregnancy goes and how tired you are. It's a bad idea to push yourself in pregnancy if you feel you are struggling physically

[Enid]

I am going on till 38 weeks

but wish I had said I'd take my paid leave so I could go earlier

[biglips]

i was 38 weeks and i had DD 42 weeks (had induction in the end)....

try and push it at the last minute before you start mat leave as if you have baba early your mat leave will start automatically

[katzg]

i finished at 36 weeks (offically 39 weeks as had 3 week annual leave first)it was great, DD2 arrived a 2 days early

[cece]

If it is your first definietly take some timew to relax and enjoy me time!!!!

[nightowl]

with ds i started my mat leave three days before i had him.

(ok i was going for shock affect there, to tell the truth he was early )

with dd she was due the middle of January so i took my christmas holiday (i think we broke up on the 21st) and then my mat leave technically started about the 6th Jan. I was bored to tears though, two weeks would have done me fine. the waiting and people keep ringing to ask if youve had it yet!! grrrrrr...i ended up snapping at a few friends that if i had they would have known about it.

[agalch]

I am self employed as a childminder so i plan to work till 38 weeks but it will be hard having dd who is at the moment 19 months,a baby who is 5.5 months and a 3.5 yr who i do a nursery run with.But i will do it cos i want to have my 6 months paid mat leave after baby arrives.

[motherinferior]

I planned to keep going till 38 weeks both times, but both times couldn't face it and ground to a halt at 37 weeks. I was totally wiped, and in fact didn't have much of a 'break' as DD1 was born two days before her due date, and DD2 was 16 days early (so just as well I was off, then).

[RuthT]

Hi

I have a seven and a half month old, going back next week but gave up on maternity on 38th week. To be honest I should have left at 37 weeks. The last week was a killer and I began to get very tetchy. It depends on how much you need to do in the way of sorting your life out, how well you feel and how much time you can take off on mat leave.

Good luck deciding

[allyco]

I'm trying to hang on until 38 weeks despite being laid up with hyperemesis.

I'm 36 weeks now and finding it harder and harder, mainly the travelling (and going out at lunchtime and having to walk to the shop for a sandwich ) .

Wish now I'd given up at mabe 34/35 weeks? Of course now my pride is making me hang on.. I am an idiot.

[cori]

Well, my maternity leave offically starts at 34 weeks. I am 32 weeks now and have two weeks A/L.I wanted to finish early because I just want to relax for a few weeks, finish household stuff, spend time with DS. I cant tell you how relieved I am to have finished work.
With DS I worked until 36 weeks.

[Tutter]

32 weeks - WAY too early - but biy did i ever enjoy the afternoons on the sofa, the dvds, the magazines, the chocolate.... sigh

[purplemonkeydishwasher]

I worked until 37 weeks. But it was hard going at the end. NOt so much the work (I had a desk job) it was getting there that was a problem!

[vitomum]

i worked till 38 weeks. i felt physically fine but very stressed worrying about all the house / baby preperations i still had to do. it really impacted on the last part of the pregnancy. If i did it again i would def finish up earlier, probably at 36 weeks.

[tribpot]

I worked til 38 weeks (i.e. end of 37 weeks, if you see what I mean). I was quite prepared to work the following week to tidy a few bits up, but my boss refused to let me. However, I felt absolutely fine and was working from home so it was more a case of doing a bit of work, having a nice lie down, do a bit more work, repeat as necessary.

My SIL has just finished up before having number 3 - at 32 weeks. She says she wants to maximise her enjoyment of the maternity leave before the baby comes along to spoil it

[Nbg]

I finished at 28 weeks but purely because I had to take 4 trains everyday to get to work and I was quite ill and kept passing out. So it wasn't ideal.

To start I wanted to go on longer so I could spend more time at home after the baby arrived but as it turned out I never went back.

[cheltenhamgal]

I left when 34 weeks which made it before xmas as I was just so knackered and wanted a bit of me time before having dd1.