How difficult will working with a newborn be?

[lostandconfused2]

I have no option but to work when I've had my baby in April, only a VERY small amount per week. I am a freelance writer and due to being off sick a lot through my pregnancy (I have a chronic illness and have had bad morning sickness) my maternity pay has gone down to about £250 a week, being 90% of my earnings on three days work a week. My rent alone is £950 and that's not covering bills and even with my partner's income it won't be enough to live on.

I have another job where I write three articles which take me around 25 minutes each to write, and I get £735 per week for that.

I cannot take the maternity and work at the same time I have been told by my other employer, so it's one or the other.

I have managed to save £1,500 so far for when baby is born so that I will have spare money for rent/bills etc. And I will have saved another £2,000 before he is born so I should have around 3 months rent ready to go. I'm trying to be as prepared as possible.

I guess my question is do you think this is doable? I know every newborn is different - but it's just a couple of hours each week, and it's pretty easy work, not too indepth or researchy - mainly personal and opion columns. It was an unplanned pregnancy as I was told I couldn't have children due to my chronic illness, just as a heads up to why I'm not super prepared.

Thank you!

I breastfed and Ive been working 6 hours a week from baby being born then about 12 hours a week since 7 months. I still breastfeed. It hasn't been a problem for me

I only managed it because DD breastfed. If I had to get up to prepare bottles it wouldn;t have worked.

See
maternityaction.org.uk/advice/rights-for-parents-with-more-than-one-job/
which seems to disagree with your employer.

Many employers' rules on maternity pay say you can't do any work (other than KIT days) whilst receiving maternity pay, but that's really about preventing people taking on new work while they're being paid to have time off. It's different if you've already been doing that work for some time. I think it's worth going back to them on this one. The initial response to a random employee saying "can I do some freelance work while I'm on maternity leave" would rightly be "no", so they may have given the response without realising that you're in a slightly different situation.

If you're in any sort of union they may be able to help, and if not, check whether you have any legal cover on your house insurance that would get you a bit of legal advice.

If your main employer is paying you more than just statutory maternity pay, then it may be a bit different, as they might be able to put more rules on that.

Failing that, I don't think your main employer can stop you doing KIT days for your other employer, so you could maybe arrange to do the work as KIT days, at least for ten weeks.

I'm glad you're getting advice on legalities op, American companies in my experience have some flagrant breaches of employee rights (even when they know they're in the wrong!). Shocking stuff happened to my American counterpart on 1 project around her maternity leave etc.

Anyway, yes thanks, much better now, no longer a "ghost" of myself but it took about 5 months to get to this stage and even heal I.e. without being on strong painkillers. Yet if course the social media and emails that go around said "mum and baby fine"... When it really, really, really wasn't.

Babies have quite a lot of naps, so it shouldn't be too hard.

I'm sure I read an identical thread a few weeks ago... It all depends on your birth and your baby but 3 x 25 minutes is doable in most circumstances I think. Definitely worth writing/planning as much as possible before the birth, and get a sling in case baby won't settle with anyone else.

Babies do usually nap, but they don’t all nap for long, or at reliable times of the day. And when they do nap that’s when some mums either feel so exhausted that they have to get some rest themselves, or that’s when they get a wash, brush their teeth, eat a sandwich, put a load of washing in, stack the dishwasher (not that we had one), book that GP appointment or call the bank etc. Life still goes on and it’s all very easy to say you can write three articles every week when the baby naps (and I hope you can) but please be aware that it may not work out like that.

Normally I tell people who want to work with a newborn that it's not doable in any meaningful way. But these sound like relatively small chunks of work and you clearly have family support so I'd say it is fine. I'd 'recommend aiming for set times on set days and pre-arranging with your family/ mil that those are the times they'll come and take DC for an hour or two. Also, if you're planning to bf, consider mixed feeding from the start (NHS guidelines say wait 8 weeks to establish BF but every woman I know who did that found that the baby then resisted the bottle. Introducing a b bottle every few days after a week or so seems to work better), so that even if you're bf, if the time slot you've agreed lands up being when baby needs a feed (they can be unpredictable in the beginning) MIL/other can feed with a bottle (expressed milk or formula).

I worked from when DD was 1 week old. But it was just a couple of hours a day so I could make it work. I've just completed a massive writing project recently which, for example, I could never have done during that time. But keeping on top of things, churning out a few small pieces, doing some editing and admin was manageable in the 2-3 hour chunks I allocated.

It is achievable with support and you can continue to work whilst claiming maternity pay as long as you we're already employed by the second company you cant start working for a new employer and claim smp. Self employed work is allowed whilst claiming smp and your current/main employer don't need to know anything about it

OP when you posted this before, I thought some readers came and explained that you cant be prohibited from working your other job while on maternity pay, provided it wasn't a new job but one you were already doing?

I did most of my third year at university and wrote my dissertation with a newborn/young baby as a single parent. When I had my second baby i was no longer a single parent, but I was self employed so reopened my business when my baby was five weeks old, and took him to work with me, as breastfeeding. Get a good sling.

My DC have been terrible sleepers so the lack of sleep thing was just as applicable when they were 3 or 4 years old and no one suggests taking years off work because of sleep deprivation. In fact mine were at their worst at preschool age for not letting me get any rest (day or night lol) Newborns at least don’t wreck the place when your back is turned or eat washing powder when you are on a conference call.

For me it’s entirely doable, good luck op.

Clearly no HR people on this thread yet.

The KIT days would have to be taken with the employer paying SMP. Not for freelance work.

SMP requires that you can’t work. HMRC will know if the OP is working whilst receiving SMP.

The employee is entitled to put its own terms on anything may pay over and above SMP.

Holy crap where did you get that freelancing gig? I'm a freelance writer and would kill to earn that much!

I went back to work when DD was 8 weeks or so. It wasn't too bad as she napped a lot during the day, but it can be hard when sleep deprived. It's when they're mobile that it becomes a real struggle.

Ahh when I read the post title I thought this would be about having a full-time job and a newborn and I was all set to say it would be a nightmare. But less than 2 hours work a week should be do-able. Just be prepared to write articles with a baby asleep on your chest and your laptop perched on your knee!

I think it's possible- how easy is the writing?

I found the hormones after having a baby played havoc with my emotions and concentration for a while, normally an organised oerson a shopping list woud be a difficult task!
If you are sleep deprived then that also impacts the ability to focus.

Yes I went back to work at 6 weeks working from home with my newborn, flexible hours as long as it added to 24 a week. DC1 was very easy. Would have been impossible with DC2 though (I went back to work but couldn’t do it while looking after him, he didn’t believe in sleeping other than while being held).

DSis went back to work as a chef four days after birth and worked full time from then on.

I worked as a technical author on a free lance basis when my DCs were young. I actually found it easier to write in the middle of the night, or very early in the morning. DC2 was a very easy baby, but DC1 didn't sleep much. Although they both napped simultaneously in the early afternoon, I couldn't muster up the creative energy/concentration to write at that time.

Yes absolutely doable especially with a newborn and partner. I went back to work when ds3 was 8 weeks old so hubby has him and our other 2 kids every sat. It was for financial reasons too. The only thing I would say is think long and hard about feeding options as other people may need to be able to feed your baby while you work. I tried combi feeding but it quickly became obvious ds was getting confused between the breast and bottle. I ended up going solely to bottle feeding as I had to be sure my dh could feed him when I went back to work and actually could get a good nights sleep the night before. As baby gets older things like baby sensory classes and swimming classes really tire them out so they often sleep for 2 hours straight afterwards which gives you time to get work done. It’s tiring but as long as you are organised and plan for you to be working at times it’s fine.

DSis went back to work as a chef four days after birth and worked full time from then on.

that is stupid too

Doing too much too fast is not great for your body, you are likely to pay for it later. No one discuss incontinence and other niceties that happen to women, but badly or no reeducated mothers pushing their bodies will end up injured. Most do anyway.

@NeedAnExpert Not true. You can take KIT days as self-employed. I even specifically spoke to HMRC about this.

However technically any small piece of work you do on a day uses up a KIT day, so even if you only work for 15 mins on a day, that counts as a KIT day. However it's almost impossible for that to be checked or enforced.

As for breastfeeding, I read whole books in the early weeks while feeding. I had bloody loads of time sitting on my arse doing nothing! And even breastfed babies can manage an hour with dad once or twice a week.

And even breastfed babies can manage an hour with dad once or twice a week.

Nope. Not my baby. They’re not all the same.

I find that a bit hard to believe tbh but if you say so. That seems a very extreme case though so I wouldn't advise OP to worry about it.

DesLynamsMoustache

It’s quite impolite to wander round the internet calling total strangers liars. My baby did occasionally settle for her dad, but not reliably enough for me to write three articles a week. Fact. And it isn’t that unusual or extreme. Lots of velcro-type babies out there.