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Original poster

To think I could study on maternity leave?

140 replies

SunflowerOwl · 25/04/2021 18:14

Not sure if this is a crazy plan or not, but there is qualification I've been wanting to do for ages and I'm wondering I'm my upcoming maternity leave would be a good time.

The course takes approx 10 weeks to complete but there are online providers that let you do it over a year before booking onto the exam.

I'm due at the end of August but have a big chunk of holiday (around 6 weeks) that I was planning on taking before, and then I'm going to take 10 months leave when the baby is here.

Is it completely mad to think this is possible? It's all stuff I know bits about from my job so it would just be getting the formal training.

OP posts:
Cowmilk · 25/04/2021 20:41

If you get a baby like my ds1, yes. You could do it with your eyes closed, no problem.

If you get a baby like my ds2, then NO. It will be impossible. I would use some of those annual leave for after baby is born and extend mat leave that way, if possible.

ToffeePennie · 25/04/2021 20:45

I did. With number 2. I was bored, annoying everyone even myself stuck at home. I was a TA and had 6 weeks off school and was SO BORED! So I did a course, studied like mad and then graduated as the baby turned 2. (So I did a full time job as a TA, studied, had 2 children under 3 and completed two house moves during my 2 year long course ) its more than possible

GoryGilmore · 25/04/2021 20:48

I’ve studied through two maternity leaves, it’s not as mad as people think. It stopped my brain turning into mush (which I felt like was happening during the one maternity leave I didn’t study) and there were sooooooo many hours where I was sat, constantly breastfeeding, on the sofa. There are only so many Netflix shows you can watch, so doing some study is a great way to pass the time if you enjoy learning.

SnackSizeRaisin · 25/04/2021 20:57

It's probably doable time wise BUT you may find it hard to get in the right frame of mind. Lots of babies don't sleep well so you might be really tired. The other problem is that you will have to give up other things in order to do it... That might include sleeping, cleaning or cooking, exercise, attending baby groups, or spending time with your husband, family and friends. I went back to work at 9 months and fitted 2 days a week worth of work into evenings and nap times for about 7 months - no childcare was used. So it's possible.

Flamingosarentreal · 25/04/2021 21:17

I did the last year of my degree on my second mat leave , baby was born 2 months after the degree year started. Missed one essay and one class.

Royalbloo · 25/04/2021 21:23

So if you really WANT to do it and are prepared to commit to the time you can 100% do it and do not let anyone tell you that you can't.

I've been studying a masters for 2.5yrs since my kid was two. Working full time and as a single parent. Lots of people told me it could not be done. It can - especially if it's just 10 weeks. Go for it! Xxx

CroydianSlip · 25/04/2021 21:27

I know maybe a couple of people who had the right sort of baby and a lot of family support...

I've had 3 dc and not one of them slept anything like helpfully for a long time. The sleep deprivation turned me into a complete zombie with next to no attention span and gritty eyes. I am usually an organised and competent professional but I became someone who found washing and eating serious tasks to achieve! I had a husband who worked long hours and no local family so I spent a lot of time out of the house at groups, parks, cafes and with friends. There is just no way I could have given energy to anything except day to day maintenance of myself and baby.

Other people coped way better than me but not many were doing so much as finishing simple fiction books for the first few months at least!

I thibk it's a 'who knows' situation really...

Wabe · 25/04/2021 21:32

Absolutely it’s possible, OP, if you really want to. I had a high needs baby and no help at all — DH had been made unexpectedly redundant just before I gave birth and had to commute to a job a long train journey away, and all family are in another country — and I wrote my first novel on maternity leave.

Good luck with it all!

christinarossetti19 · 25/04/2021 21:33

I would go for it. You've got a decent chunk of time off before your baby is due (hopefully!) and then months to do bits here and there.

It does depend on your baby, which you won't know until s/he's here, but also sounds very doable.

Boomchicka · 25/04/2021 21:38

40 hours is nothing! You can do that easily in your first 10 days of annual leave.

cherryblossom999 · 25/04/2021 21:40

40 hours of study time over 10 months sounds doable, even with a young baby but dependent on how your baby is. My eldest slept through from about 4 months and used to nap for about 4 hours a day too, I spent most of it utterly bored! Didn't breastfeed though so that may have affected things.

I would say don't expect too much for the first few months but with some organisation and a bit of luck it could definitely be done in the last part of your leave.

Alarae · 25/04/2021 21:52

A director at my company undertook a Level 7 diploma while on maternity leave. Usually touted as 200 hours study time with a 3 and a half hour exam.

She got the highest mark in the whole of the UK and won a medal.

Bonkers. She only did it as she wanted to make sure she was 'fresh'! It sounded almost like a jolly for her the way she described it..

Subordinateclause · 25/04/2021 22:01

I'm surprised by a lot of the responses - I would find it far, far more manageable than when you are back at work and have a toddler. Maybe some of the PPs haven't experienced toddlerhood yet... I think I've had pretty chilled babies but I could definitely have studied. I have a small baby now so it's not that I'm looking back with rose tinted glasses. On the days my older child is in nursery and I just have the baby I have loads of spare time and if I didn't have all the associated mess from a toddler to sort I'd have even more. Both maternity leaves I've felt considerably more rested than when I'm at work, despite doing all the night feeds, exclusively breastfeeding etc.

prediction500 · 25/04/2021 22:06

Is it CeMAP? I'd say it is most definitely possible. 40 hours study isn't too much at all and you have a year to complete. Sounds totally fine to me.

NelliePig · 25/04/2021 22:10

I could of, but baby slept very well and had no issues breastfeeding, so often we laid in bed or on sofa cuddling while she fed or slept. I could have read a textbook or propped a laptop up and been good for a few solid chunks a day.
However, I think it depends on the baby my new mum friends with babies the same age had a variety of experiences and some of them were very tired, had feeding issues and/or had sad reflux colicly babies so would of been a hard no! X

Fieldoftheclothofgold · 25/04/2021 22:11

Mat leave gave me less free time than when I was working and childfree. Significantly so.

Wowzel · 25/04/2021 22:14

There's no way I could have done it, I had to defer my MSc an extra 6 months

Ginger1982 · 25/04/2021 22:17

Dear God, no. Enjoy your baby.

Babyboomtastic · 25/04/2021 22:18

@Subordinateclause

Same. Though I'm one of those people whose baby slept worse at 6m and a year (and 18m) than she did as a newborn.

I've never had so much free time in my life as in the first few months with my children. Even with many many night wakes, my second having colic, them only having contact naps etc.

PrtScn · 25/04/2021 22:25

It’s a bit like pot luck with babies, and certainly don’t do anything for the first month or two. My baby was awful and The first few months were a total sleep deprived head f*&k. Mine was due Oct and came 3 weeks early on the actual start date of my module (Oct - May) I was hoping to get a 3 or 4 week head start on studying(was banking on him being late, how naieve was I!). I passed the module but fell behind a lot. If he’d have slept and was happy to be put down I’d have coped fine. As it was he didn’t sleep unless he was on me and had an epic meltdown whenever he was put down. I couldn’t even go for a wee without him screaming his head off. Thank god for slings is all I can say.

MrsFin · 25/04/2021 22:28

@Horehound

Well you could do Alot during the 6 weeks annual leave but not once the baby is here!

The baby might come early

PrtScn · 25/04/2021 22:29

@Subordinateclause

I'm surprised by a lot of the responses - I would find it far, far more manageable than when you are back at work and have a toddler. Maybe some of the PPs haven't experienced toddlerhood yet... I think I've had pretty chilled babies but I could definitely have studied. I have a small baby now so it's not that I'm looking back with rose tinted glasses. On the days my older child is in nursery and I just have the baby I have loads of spare time and if I didn't have all the associated mess from a toddler to sort I'd have even more. Both maternity leaves I've felt considerably more rested than when I'm at work, despite doing all the night feeds, exclusively breastfeeding etc.
I find it much easier to study and work full time now that mine is a toddler. I study in the evenings when he’s in bed or an hour here and there in the day at the weekend when he’s being entertained by his dad. When he was a baby he was on me like velcro.
ChocOrange1 · 25/04/2021 22:29

If its only 40 hours study time you could definitely do it in the 6 weeks you have before baby arrives. In fact you could do it in the first 2 weeks and still have time to spare!
I was thinking it was 10 weeks full time!

Drunkenmonkey · 25/04/2021 22:56

I did it. My mat leave has just finished and I have studied since my.baby was 6 months old. how many hours a day would you need to do?
I had a 4 year old and a baby and I was also home schooling through lockdowns. I studied every evening from 7.30 till 10 and the odd hour here and there throughout the day.

TheRuralLife89 · 25/04/2021 23:02

I'm about to finish a 10 month course, which I started when DD was 4 months old. By then she was in a routine and luckily she's a good sleeper. I was also bottle feeding by then, which simplified things.

I study when she naps, after she goes to bed for the night and before she wakes in the morning (not all of those times in one day, it varies...so some days I'll do an early morning, other times a late night, for example). DH also takes her for most of the day on weekends before an assignment is due so I can work. Also I've accepted that at busy times the house will be a bit of a state.

It really does depend on what your baby is like, how much support you have and how you find motherhood in general. If I were you I'd wait until your baby is here and you get your bearings a bit.

Personally, there's no way I could've done anything apart from survive in the early days...the hormones sent me crazy and trying to BF was a total shit show...but once things settled down it was all much easier.