CMers- A question about Maternity Allowance if I may...

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

Hi everyone!

I am 13 weeks pregnant with DC2 and during my last pregnancy I suffered with PGP or SPD (undiagnosed) which made walking very difficult and painful, pushing anything heavy such as a buggy or a double in my case impossible and lifting small children very dodgy.

I am going to take my maternity leave as early as possible this time around, which I think is 11 weeks before my due date, correct me if I am wrong, but I am already beginning to feel pain at this early stage and I was wondering if anyone knew anything about taking maternity leave earlier than 11 weeks before the due date? If I could I would but if I would not be paid MA then I couldn't afford to. I think I could carry on for another 4-6 weeks but I'm not sure about longer than that.

Any advice greatly appreciated thank you.

Anyone?

Don't think it's possible to start your maternity leave before 29 weeks - or at least you can't get MA til 29 weeks.

There's a possibility you could get Employment and Support Allowance (used to be Incapacity Benefit) if you're physically unfit to work.

If you've paid your stamp you would be entitled to sick pay, I would also speak to your early years team for advise and a possible grant to cover loss of earnings.

I have never heard of Employment and Support Allowance, Moon, do you know how I can find out more about it?

Dan- I am self-employed so am not entitled to sick pay, I don't have an early-years team for advise either unfortunately! But thank you for your reply

I think you'd have to call the DWP - I don't know much about it either, just that it replaced Incapacity Benefit. You'd need a doctor to sign you off I think, and the conditions for claiming it are quite tough.

Ok thanks I have had a look online and the benefit doesn't look like very much, certainly not enough to support myself on anyway! But I really appreciate your reply so thankyou. Looks like I'm just going to have to struggle either physically or financially.

Could you employ an assistant to helP? THen they can do all the lifting and carrying and heavy work and you just be there to supervise? Just a temporary assistant, I mean. ??

I'm not really busy enough to afford to have an extra body on board and to be honest I don't want the extra hassle of paperwork, workers rights, time off, sickness etc etc when all I want to be doing is winding down. Thanks for your suggestion.

wear really shock absorbing trainers.....

(sorry to be so brief and off the point, but it really helped me 2nd time round. If your hips haven't been so jolted, and you look after all your twisting/pushing type movements really carefully, they'll hold out better than otherwise)

I feel for you as when I was 12 weeks pregnant, I fell off a chair and knocked my pelvis and so the SPD started and it got harder and harder to push the triple buggy and then to walk full stop. Finishing early wasn't an option for me unfortunately (MA much much less than what I was getting paid) but thank god I got fixed by a local Osteopath.

But I agree about the Employment and Support Allowance. I'd phone up and ask that if the Dr signs to say you are not fit for this work, whether you'd be entitled. I'd have thought so and if not, certainly some kind of sick pay.

I can't answer about when you're allowed to start ML though as I only had 12 weeks off so never looked into it.

Hope you manage to sort something out. Take care x

tokengirl- don't apologise I'm grateful for any bit of advice and I have already started to wear my air-filled trainers as my hips have started hurting and I'm only 14 weeks!

What I'd also like to know is should I be doing any exercise now? I feel I should be walking to keep my weight in check and keep healthy but everytime I do I end up stiff and sore.

looneytune- thank you for your kind words, your experience sounds awful I just wish things were a bit better financially from the government when people genuinely are ill and despereatly need the help.

TheBreastmilksOnMe - Have you spoken to your GP about being referred for physiotherapy? I'm a CM and have had SPD since 10 wks this time around. My local hospital run advice sessions on how to cope with SPD and they were quite useful.

Other things to consider:
Maternity support belt. I got one for about £30 and it's been a godsend. I've got the leaflet somewhere if you want pointing in the right direction to buy one.

Can you stop using your double buggy? I found that really aggravated my pain so swapped to a single buggy with buggy board. Apparently you need to keep the handles as close to your body as possible and push with your whole body (as opposed to holding it at arms length and pushing in a leaning position).

Try and get the children used to doing things independently as much as possible. As soon as I found out I was pregnant I tried to encourage mine to climb into car seats / walk up stairs etc as much as they were able and that's been a big help. If you do need to pick them up, try not to hold them on your hips, where poss keep them in front of you and hold them close to your body.

Those are the CM specific things I can think of. Your GP/Midwife should be able to give you more information about more general stuff to minimise the pain. At the class I went to they did say not to continue activities if they were painful so I would say that if excercise is hurting you, you should probably avoid it. Swimming is good but stick to front crawl rather than breast stroke. Good luck, SPD is miserable!

Thanks chocolatejunkie your tips have been very useful. I already have a suport belt but I find it more of a nuisance then a help the last time to be honest.

I have 2 2yr olds and I try and get them to walk places with me where possible and climb into their own care seats, lift them minimally etc. I will have a look into getting a buggy board.

I don't have any classes here unfortunatley, I'm quite rural so provisions for anything are pretty rubbish around here. I am seeing my physio again tomorrow as I have been a bit sore these last few days but that has been my own fault for carrying my son on my hip.

I hope things don't get any worse for you and thankyou for your advice it's nice to hear from somebody who is in practically the same boat as me.