To be pregnant just returning to work from mat leave?

[Alicia870]

I have a 5 month old dc and will be returning to work part time when she is 8 months old. I have such a desire to get pregnant again as both my husband and I want babies close together and feel I am really in the baby mindset and really want to continue focusing on my family.

If it weren't for work, I probably would be really excited at expanding our family but does it look bad that I would be returning after a 9 month period of leave and telling them I'm pregnant again?

I understand that back to back maternity leave means you can complete your family and children are closer in age. However, for smaller businesses it is very difficult. One of my colleagues had 3 pregnancies very close together, so was pregnant on each return from maternity leave. She had a specialist role and the company really struggled to find cover for each leave, so the other two people in that area had an increased workload for almost all of her circa 3 years leave. At the end of her last maternity leave she came back to work for 1 month, during which she submitted her resignation. The owner of the business said the effect on other staff and the costs to a small business meant that she was now very nervous of employing women who hadn’t completed their families. Obviously this is discriminatory. But I think that quite a lot of small businesses feel that way, sadly.

I don’t know what the answer is as I fully support the right of women to take maternity leave.

I've literally just done this, returned to work when DD was 1, back at work for four months and then off again for number 2. My work were all really happy for me and there's not been a single negative comment! To be fair, who in their right mind would make a negative comment to a pregnant woman?!!
Worst case scenario anyone does think it's a bit off, it doesn't change your rights or what best for you and your family, so go for it, ig's just a job and if it doesn't work out you can get a new job? Xxxx

I did this. Had a year off with DC1 & went back to work when I was nearly five months pregnant with DC2. Worked for three months then went off again for another year. I worked in the public sector, with great maternity leave provisions.

Sometimes it's easier to cover one very long absence (even with a bit of work in the middle) than 2 shorter absences.