To only take two months off work?

[mollifly]

I am currently 11 weeks pregnant and I am starting to think about maternity leave.

My maternity leave package is not great, 4 weeks full pay, 2 weeks half then down to statutory.

I was in a similar position when I had my first. I had 6 weeks paid and then statutory. We weren't in a position to be able to afford for me not to be working so only managed to cover the extra 6 weeks to make it to almost 3 months. My son was 2 weeks late though and HR made me take my leave from his due date which was so annoying.

Anyway I returned to work when he was 2.5 months old, for a few weeks parents helped with childcare until he could start nursery at 3 months full time. I got lots of judgemental comments about why I had bothered to have a child etc etc but actually every spare moment was spent with him and I don't feel any of us lost out.

For me the hardest thing was time wasters at work - my tolerance for listening to people talk and talk to re-inforce their own importance was gone. I wanted to finish my work and get home to more important things. It's completely do-able in my opinion

went back after 3 months with each of mine. Was too early with DC1, but I could have gone back earlier with DC2. They both seem fine.
I had a CM, not nursery - same CM still does the afterschool care, so it's like a second family and a set of siblings for my kids, worked out great.

I took 4.5 months with my first baby ( the last 3 weeks of that were holiday though). It was tough but we had no option financially speaking. He was sleeping through the night by 10 weeks though . I dont think I could have coped otherwise.

With my second I had 5.5 months off. She was sleeping through by 15 weeks. It was meant to be less as me and my husband were going to have 4 months each but i was enjoying it so much i nabbed a bit more than my agreed share! Financially we could have afforded me to stay off for a year but I work in a fast moving profession and have seen too many women bumped into the "mummy track" if they take more than 6 months off.i do love my job.
Another big bonus to going back early that you dont hear being mentioned much, is that your baby gets settled into childcare before the separation anxiety stage at approx 8 months. Mine took to it like ducks to water.

It helps massively to have good sleepers and a supportive, equal partner.

In the UK it's expected the mother takes a whole year off

I don't think this is right. I think six months is standard, but people may be able to afford to take up to the whole year.

Where I work, maternity leave contracts are 6 months long with an option to extend, so my employer takes the view that people may well come back after 6 months.

When I had ds, maternity leave was shorter, than it is now so I went back after 7 months. My employer had an enhanced package which was a mix of full pay and half pay, when the half pay ran out I had a bit of annual leave accrued so was able to eke it out to 7 months off. As someone mentioned, it's a good time to go back as babies are easier to settle into childcare. 9 months seems to be the time when it starts getting difficult and they get separation anxiety etc.

Hi,

Different companies have different policies, so your company paying you 4 months full and 2 months half is thiers. My company is 9 moths full but depending how long youve been here, you can get up to 10 months full pay and 2 months SMP.

Most companies i know allow their staff to take up to 1 year off, with some allowing additional (no pay i believe) My company would let me take one year paid maternity and up to anotehr year unpaid (with the promise they would hold my position)

Personal experience of how colleagues will treat you will vary on your relationships with them i suppose, but for me - everyone was lovely to me - i was very very sick with HG and a few other issues so was signed off for a while - my maternity cover was found as soon as i was signed off as i have a quite an important role withing my department and they needed someone here to cover me immediately. Your manager is not giving you projects because she is probably anticipating that you will be off on maternity and wont be able to see the project through - this is normal and i wouldnt be alarmed at this. Finding maternity cover is also very normal - there are adverts to be places, interviews to conduct and then the hand-over etc etc. This will all take time so they are just starting it early.

Congrats on the pregnancy!

Forgot to say I also worked right up to the day my waters broke both times as I wanted all the leave to be with the baby rather than sitting around waiting!

Other things to consider is if you have a pregnancy related illness in the last 4 weeks, maternity leave will start automatically and so after 2 months maternity your baby may only be a month old. Similarly if the baby is premature, they could still be really tiny, potentially even still in hospital.

^^ sorry for the typos!!!

If you need to go back because of something related to your job (ie not wanting there to be a replacement etc), then some people do - my friend went back after 6 weeks.

If it's finances though then if you can have 4 months' full pay, no need to go back then and tbh probably no need to go back for the 2 months' half pay as the difference between half pay but no childcare and full pay with childcare may not be very much.

Although lots of people now take about a year, don't feel bad if you decide that's not what you want to do.

It really depends what you wnat and what your needs are (financial or emotional)

With my eldest, he arrived just before maternity reform so I was raring to get back to work after 2 weeks but my GP insited I stay off for 6 weeks because of c/section. With my second I took 4 months off on almost full pay, then went back.

My best friend, very career orientated, had her baby on her due day, natuarlly, and was stright back to work on day 14. Within 3 months she'd taken a posting abroad and left dad to do the parenting! She was the high earner and breadwinner. It didnt affect her or her relationship with her child.

also look at you outgoings and if you can change anything - i took 6 mths with both of mine but had 6mths mortgage break to help ease things

I took 7 months and it wasn't enough for me. I took out a loan to cover mortgage payments etc whilst I was on SMP. Borrowing money isn't for everyone, and I'm still paying it back now my son's 19 months, so it's had a long term effect on my finances (as has returning to work on reduced hours), but I would do it again if I had to.

Now's the perfect time to sit down and work out finances, potential timings. Bear in mind baby will come when baby will come - I planned for my maternity leave to start the day before my son was born, and that ended up being the day he came. I did add 3 weeks of annual leave to the beginning of my mat leave, so was off for 3 weeks getting things ready for baby. You can't use a/l once baby's born, but might be able to add some to the very end of your maternity leave if you can save up your annual leave until that point.

You need to be able to afford more than 8 weeks off if necessary.

Worst case scenario, a pregnancy related illness could automatically put you on to maternity leave at 36 weeks. Baby could be born up to 42 weeks (depends on local policy) then a difficult birth CS/ bad tear might mean you need a minimum of 6 weeks recovery. You'd be incredibly unlucky to have such a combination, but pregnancy/ birth/ postnatal recovery can throw up unexpected problems, and that's part of the reason why the UK has a societal expectation and financial provision for maternity leave. You would not be allowed to return to work for two weeks minimum, four for some jobs.

At 8 weeks postnatal we were still having health checks. I was just begining driving after my EMCS (hadn't driven in the last month of pregnancy so didn't feel ready to rush after being rather ill). After my VBAC, the combination of a 3rd degree tear and SPD meant I was still struggling with my mobility and constant pain at 2-3 months. I wouldn't have been physically capable of working. I hope none of these kinds of complications occur for you, but you can't predict whether they will or won't.

Financially look at it carefully. SMP is not taxed. You'll be eligible for Child Benefit. Look into any other financial support you may be eligible for. How does your maternity income compare to salary after deductions and childcare. Childcare can be harder to arrange under 3 months.

Needs must, but just be aware that 8 weeks in total is a very narrow window with little scope to adapt to the unpredictable.

You need to go back to HR - your package is categorically NOT four weeks full pay and 2 weeks half pay (as that is illegal) - it may well be four months full, two months half.

Isn't this illegal??? (On the company's part).

I thought the legal requirement was that the company offer much longer maternity pay and leave.

If you want to go back that early it's perfectly possible and PPs have made good suggestions. But it sounds bizarre and I'd go back to HR to check.

I'm in the UK and entitled to 6mos full pay and 6mos half pay, and they've recently upped that to an extra 13 weeks of full pay (so 9 mos full pay and 3 mos half pay).

In the UK it's expected the mother takes a whole year off

No it's not. I don't know anyone who has taken the full year off. 9 months is more the norm in my workplace and among my friends. If it was "expected" it would be paid, it isn't.

I thought the legal requirement was that the company offer much longer maternity pay and leave.

Well it's not that much longer. 6 weeks at 90% then SMP at £140 a week is the minimum.

I'd knaw my right arm off for 6 months full and 6 months half but I'm in local govt so no chance.

Knaw? Gnaw, clearly. I have baby brain too.

In the UK it's expected the mother takes a whole year off

Nope. In my industry it’s 12 weeks.

Zaphod Of course its not illegal. There is statutory maternity pay, IF you are entitled to it. Six months full pay and six months half pay is way more than most women get in the UK.

I work for myself and so no SMP. I ended up having 5 years off due to slipping a couple of discs when my muscles turned to jelly when I was about 4/5 months pregnant and the orthopaedic hospital misdiagnosing me. Apparently according to my records the xray showed I needed a new hip and I have arthritis. Only issue I have is because I was pregnant no xray was ever taken

I took 4 months off, it was meant to be 3 but DS came 5 weeks early so I didn't bother changing my start date. I had a section but a straightforward recovery. I'd have been fine to go back after 3 months but glad I took the extra month. DS went to full time nursery at 4 months and settled really easily. He's now 20 months. If I have another I'd look to do the same.

Surely the norm cannot be 1 year as, legally, maternity pay only needs paying for 39 weeks and the other 13 weeks are unpaid, normally as 6 weeks at 90% (if you meet the working time requirements before mat leave) and then the following 25 weeks smp (or longer omp and less smp time)? The only way you'd receieve any more than that would be if your company had a very generous maternity policy and package.