To ask how much maternity leave

[Flippertyjibbetty]

• you took and did that feel right?

• were you concerned about time out from your career (actual loss of skills)

• were you concerned about perceptions at work about how committed you were?

Thinking about how long to take (whether 6m or 12m or something in between). Think I have support to take a full year and definitely want to make up mind when baby is actually here but feels such a long time and I know I want a second kid at some point - so 2 years feels even longer out of 10 years working.

(I say 10 years because in my industry that's how long you have to be promoted otherwise it's up or out).

First time I took eight months and then my mum took my daughter when I went back part time. Second daughter I went back after seven months and was desperate to get back to work. Again part time except this time they had a childminder.

I love my children to the ends of the search but wasn't designed to be a stay at home mum. I'm just not patient enough.

4 months. I shared the leave with DH so he took almost 6 months. It was tough but it also helped me get over PND

So much depends on who you work for. I worked in the public sector, in a job disproportionately staffed by young-ish females. It was common place for people to take maximum maternity leave and return part-time, no-one would think that you weren't committed. I took 15 months - 12 months maternity plus annual leave, then returned 3 days per week. After 6 months I was promoted to a management position with another public sector employer, going up to 4 days per week.

However, I have seen friends working in other industries take a maximum of 6 months as they felt pressure to go back, and also to answer e-mails, phone calls, etc, while on maternity leave. If there's a general culture of short maternity leaves in a workplace then I can see how a year long absence could be viewed negatively.

I've taken a year for two maternity leaves. I was promoted shortly after my return from the first and would expect the same to happen again. I am currently quite senior, leading a team and will become very senior on my return. I work 4 days a week.

I think it's a important to consider what you will do if you have complications or PND etc. I went back to work when my LO was 5 1/2 months as that was the end of my full pay period and I couldn't afford to take a reduced pay. In total I was off for about 8 months as I had some holiday to use too. I was in no state to return to work and it actually took me 2 1/2 years to fully recover physically and mentally from my birth. Looking back I should have got signed off by the Dr; I was extremely lucky to have ended up with a very understanding manager and I've now managed to catch up with where I was professionally before I went on maternity leave.

one of the reasons (and there are lots) I'm not having anymore children is because I can't afford to take a full year maternity leave.

Dc1: went back after 9 mths but used holiday to only do 2 days pw for a month. It was earlier than I wanted but I felt an obligation as I'd only done the role for a year before I went off on ml. I shouldn't have bothered as they made me redundant 6 months later and replaced me with my cheaper mat leave cover!

I originally thought I’d go back after 4 months (stat maternity pay) however I ended up going back after 8 months off. I wish in hindsight I’d taken a full year but we would have struggled financially (already dipped into savings for the extra 4 months).

1 full year with both. Went back full time after the first. 0.9 of a person after the second.

With our first we took a 6m mortgage holiday and with our no. I got 4m full pay and 8w 90% pay and maternity pay until I returned.

I took just under a year. Finished on 30 September and went back on 03 September the following year. Due date was 26 September but baby didn't arrive until 09 November! I think for me it was the right time, and return date tied in with new school year and son starting nursery. I only went back 3 days a week, and I am currently still doing 3 days and son is in Year One (although new full-time job starts on 23 October - eek!). 3 days a week was perfect for me, as I felt I was getting the best of both worlds. My son loved nursery and we had plenty of time to do our own things together too.

With ds I went back after 10 months and with dd took 11. I had it in my mind that I wanted to take as much as we could afford and save for up to the maximum of one year. My view was that you won't get that baby time back again and that first year in particular provides the solid building blocks for their young years. I go back to work on Monday and although I love my job and I'm looking forward to earning again, I would have loved to have taken a full year. There was no real precedent in my work as it's a newish company I work for. I won't lie, I've been a bit worried about all the changes in my absence (our CEO has left and chairman is now really involved in the work) but at the same time my job is public sector linked so the pace of wider change is quite slow and it'll be the same issues we're dealing with. On the whole it feels about right for us.

expected 26 September but baby didn't arrive until 09 November

Is this a typo?

I took around 9 months with both of mine, and have worked 4 days a week since having the dc. I'm in the public centre in a predominantly female department so in some ways that makes it easier particularly when I have to take leave because of the a poorly child. I do think there has been some impact on my career though. Although I feel ready for a promotion I don't think i could take on the added stress that would entail with young children at home and A husband who works long hours and can't help with the pick ups and drop offs. I also find the lack of flexibility from having sole responsibility for the dc during the week difficult