The big con, for me, was no real maternity pay. Maternity Allowance was £100 a week in my case. I can't pay my share of the mortgage and bills on that; each of my four-month maternity leaves cost me around six grand, I reckon.

Pros: can spend more time with my baby (I work from home but have a nanny 3 days a week)
can usually take time out in the middle of the day if I need to e.g. for doctors visit for my son without having to justify it to anyone apart from myself!
When childcare lets me down (as my nanny does more often than she should!) I can often manage the workload without having to admit to anyone that my childcare arrangement has failed - a hassle for me but less hassle than if I was employed in an office 9-5.30 and had to apologise to my boss, loose a day's holiday etc etc.
cons: I earn much less than if I had the equivalent level employed job I had before I went self employed since I had to start building client base again after return from maternity leave (thanks to an idiot I hired to cover for me during maternity leave who lost me all my clients!)
I have to invest in childcare BEFORE I have any income in order to be available to attend speculative meetings with potential clients, prepare for new business pitches at short notice and to begin working on a new client (usually at short notice!). That means a big financial outlay before any income arrives - especially as it takes a couple of months to receive payment once client signed up - i.e. I work for a month then invoice retrospectively then wait a month or more for them to pay. I can only afford to do this because I have a well-paid husband who bankrolls me - I could be a stay-at-home mum if I wanted to be but I am trying to keep my career going as an investment for the longer term future while also being able to be close to my son when he is young.

Maternity allowance is very low - I've been saving money to top it up for my next period of maternity leave but its not been easy. Freelancing allows me flexibility and I can earn a reasonably high rate for not that many hours, but I couldn't afford to do it if I didn't have a partner with a steady income. Or rather I would be too nervous to do it without a partner with a steady income.

So what we've got is a fairly traditional arrangement - he works full time and I work very part time and do the bulk of the childcare and housework.

I'd hoped that things would even up over time but I'm starting to realise that childcare issues can get harder, not easier when children start school. (I know, seems stupid not to realise before!) so I'm not quite sure when we will reach the point where I can/want to work more hours.

On balance, I love being self-employed, but I am lucky that DH earns a reasonable amount so I am not trying to support a family on my earnings - more to cover childcare, keep my brain busy, and help out with extra money etc.

PROS
- no office politics or pointless meetings(this is a biggy for me )
- not having to commute every day
- the ability to take time off when I need to, and make it up later
- much less stress when the DC are ill

CONS
- no-one to share the stress with or delegate to
- difficult to take a holiday
- easy to end up 'out of the professional loop'
- having to pay for my own training
- no IT support!!!

I did get Maternity Allowance and took 4 months off when I had DD2. I still managed to lose a few of my contracts over my maternity leave period though, and of course as a freelancer there's no comeback on that.

No maternity leave, like I sadi we reopened when DS was 8 days old, I do breakfasts book keeping etc DH did rooms as I had a section. Bt this balances out with time off in winter when we are quiet.

Agree with everything so far - the most difficult issues for me are:

- not being able to turn work down
- flexibility being a double edged sword ('flexible' my arse when working at 2am)
- finding time to do admin - most importantly invoices
- the stress of trying to make business calls with dcs at home
- high workloads managing to coincide with dcs being ill and excluded from nursery
- saving money on lunches, however most of the time I don't make any lunch and eat rubbish instead

Sounds very negative but it's still miles better than trying to fit into a conventional 9-5 office routine with 4-5 weeks holiday, etc.

Had M A, but also had some big contracts finishing at same time, which kept us going as MA was quite a pay cut at the time.
DH works in public sector- much earier than when he was lecturing which was conntact work. It's easier if one of you is on normal salaried work.

only did it post children - did it solely because of dd with chronic condition as it was 'meant' to be easier

oh, and i had maternity allowance but that was much less than i would usually earn

yes, carrie.
I had to stop treating patients at 7 months as the bump literally got in the way. Was doing business admin until the week of the birth (was just before christmas) and started going in 2 weeks after she was born. I started treating patients again 4.5 months after she was born.

My first employee got PG 3 months after i employed her. It cost me 25K in lost earnings when she was off. She got PG again just as i was about to go on my own mat leave. Nothing to do but congratulate her! but it did occur to me that she was having the life i had worked so hard to get for myself- she came back on reduced hours with no late or early appointments. She was a fantastic employee in all other respects