How do you decide how much MAT leave to take?

[Makemyselfhappy]

Just that really, asking as I've recently found out I'm pregnant.

I think for most people it will depend on their maternity pay! I took leave until it went onto SMP, which was only 16 weeks. If you partner earns enough to support you all when you are only on SMP, obviously it can mean you have longer off. Or savings.

I took 12 months, plus annual leave either side so I was actually off from Dec 18 till march 20.

Obviously depends on what your work offer financially and if you can afford it as the PP stated

I was originally going to do shared parental leave with my DP - 10 months me and 2 months him. This was because it was important to us that he have bonding time with the baby and also I wanted to breast feed, so took as long off as possible to allow this to happen. My mat leave package was for 26 weeks pay then 13 weeks statutory And 13 weeks no pay. We had saved money from when I found out I was pregnant to cover the costs of less earninga for the last 6 months.

Then COVID happened and my partner was working from home anyway, so just converted it all to mat leave. So I’ll have 12 months altogether (plus a few weeks of annual leave added on the beginning/end)

How long can you afford to be off?
What are your childcare arrangements going to be and how soon can they start?
How ill are you in the pregnancy and how supportive is your employer? (I was signed off at 27 weeks with first pregnancy and took MAT leave from 29 weeks, second time lovely boss and better managed medically and I worked until 36 weeks)

I would check your mat leave policy. it's reasonably easy to end mat leave early where I work, so I normally advise anyone who's going on leave to state they want 12 months and it's just a case of filling in a form if they come back earlier so they go back on the normal pay roll. Especially if it's their first and don't know how they might feel about coming back early. That's NHS though, and we don't get cover for maternity leave.

If you say your going to have 6 months and then decided you want to extend it, it's a bit more difficult. When my husband was made redundant early in my maternity leave, I just called my manager and went back 3 weeks later (5 months earlier than planned).

However, that probably depends on your employers maternity leave policy.

As much as you can afford!

For me it was a fine balance between how long I could afford to be off and how long I could cope being at home without losing my mind I opted for 2 months pre-baby and 8 months after, though would have happily gone back sooner. Mat leave just wasn't for me 🤷🏼‍♀️

I take as long as I can possibly afford to take off plus all the annual leave I can take at the end of it. It goes so fast and you never get that time back.

Work as late as you can, take as much maternity leave as you can afford and take as much annual leave as you are allowed is my advice.

I initially took 9 months but wasn't ready to go back so extended it to 12 months. With annual leave I ended up having 15 months off. My husband was very supportive of me needing extra time off and thankfully was able to support me financially for those last three months of unpaid maternity leave.

I work for an NHS Trust and the maternity package was quite generous.

My husband and I shared leave, and I took about 8 months off and he took about 18 weeks (but that includes annual leave for both of us and we overlapped and were off together for about 8 weeks throughout the period). We didn’t use up all of the 52 weeks of available leave and that is my biggest regret. Because we were doing it in stages, it was very difficult to change once it had been signed off. So other than adding some annual leave, we couldn’t really extend. I would have loved more time off!

Like others said though it comes down to what you can afford and how generous your mat leave policy is. We saved quite heavily in advance to be able to afford longer off, but were lucky we could do that.

I am taking the 39 weeks off, then a further 5.5 weeks for annual leave at the end. Essentially works out that I go back at the start of next year, which I thought was a nice thing.

We can't afford for me to stay off longer as I am the higher earner.

With my first I was going to take 9 months but then changed it to 12. Ended up being more with annual leave.
I used annual leave with my second to work ‘part time’ for something like 6 months!
Will be doing the same with this baby, 12 months off and ‘part time’ for a while afterwards

I took as much as I could afford - which was 9 months plus as much annual leave as I could scoop together.

Check your policy on pay, work out how much you can afford, don't tell work. Let them assume you are taking the lot. You give 8 weeks notice of a change so you notify them 8 weeks ahead of the date you want to return, as long as the return date is within the year.

You accrue annual leave while on Mat Leave so can add that on the end.

As long as you can afford, but not so long you go mad .

In my case I took 12 months each time, because I got 6 months at full pay, then a further 3 months of crappy statutory, oh and could keep getting childcare vouchers throughout. In both cases, thanks to complications, I needed at least the full 12 months to recover physically.

I found mat leave tricky; not having my own cash even though I had full access to the family money was more of a psychological issue for me than expected. I'm also used to a high pressure and fascinating career. Spending long days with a small baby were drudgery in comparison, though it improved around the 9 month mark when they started interacting more.

I literally hate my job. So I took a month of annual leave before the date of my elective section. Then I took 11 months maternity and I have 6 weeks of leave to take before I go back, I'm half way through that. Due back soon to less hours. I had a fairly decent mat package though.

It is really down to your financial situation, your childcare when you go back and how much you'll miss your baby vs your job. It may be you have a career and taking too much time could have an adverse affect. It's all very personal. I am glad I took as long as I did, especially under the current circumstances. It's enabled me to be there for my preschooler without having to put him in childcare for key workers too.

How long we could afford, DS I took 13 months off, DD I took 6 months off. I also with both went off literally as I was about to pop. Ds I finished at 39+4 and my waters went the same day; I had planned the same with dd but I was due to be induced instead at 37 weeks so worked the day I went into labour.

Dd is in nursery full time and has been six months, n0 regrets at all. She’s a feisty monster!

I didn't particularly enjoy maternity leave and was ready to go back after 39 weeks. I started my leave a few weeks before DC1 was born so he was about 8.5 months when I went back to work. I am lucky to have a part-time job and I eased back in gently (used annual leave to go back 2 days a week at first then up to 3). I have always enjoyed the balance of time at work and time with baby.

Now pregnant with DC2, starting mat leave mid-August and due in September... but I can't imagine wanting to go back to work in May next year, as it will be the start of the summer! And last summer with DC1 before he starts school in September 2021. I'll just have to see how I feel.

Anyway, OP, it's way too soon decide. It's a good idea to start discussing it with your partner though, see if he wants to take any parental leave.

DH took a month off when DC1 was born (and will do the same for DC2) and then when I went back to work, he reduced his working days to 4 days a week, so he's looked after DC1 by himself for 1 day a week ever since. Works brilliantly for us.

Iv had 13 months in total with annual leave added on. I go back next week and I still don't feel ready.

Everyone is different, finances etc maternity pay, planned/unplanned pregnancy.
My pregnancy was planned and took a while conceive so able to save for my maternity leave.
Took 13.5 months off and going back at the end of this month and don't feel ready to go back part time! 😞😞

Consider how flexible your employer is with when you can take holiday days & parental leave.
I did not take holidays as part of my mat leave
then took 2 days a week after I returned for few months. Glad I did not use up parental leave as it much more useful school age kids I take few weeks over summer.
I took 6,5,7 months leave always liked going back to work , the freedom being alone for a while and as babies get older harder to go out & about due to naps and being active- can't be in pushchair long periods while you walking, shopping ect need to let them crawl climb discover and also they mess & frequency of eating.
If they are tricky sleepers the routine of nursery from young age may help.
Try to be flexible see how you are finding it. Some people love at home with baby want to do as long as possible others like company of other or challenge of work and prefer to return sooner.

Took 9 months, the first 6 were paid and the rest I had saved up. I was only planning 7 months but managed to eek out my savings for another two months.

I only receive SMP and had planned to go back after 9 months which would have been in September. However I do not feel ready and I have just extended my maternity leave and I’m going to use some annual leave so I can return in January 2021. I am also going back on a part time basis. Yes we will struggle financially a little however I feel that spending as long as I can with my baby is worth the sacrifices we are going to have to make. DP is completely supportive of this and we both agree in it’s the best interests of our baby.

I took as long off as possible which ended up being about 13 months. Not sure I'd do the same again - it was pretty bad for my mental health. Annoyingly though the best part of mat leave for me was the last few months once my DD was more fun!