When to start maternity leave during covid

[Stelladaisy]

Hello - Im pregnant with my first child and because of covid im working from home - I dont have a great amount of paid maternity leave so my plan was to work up until 40 weeks as Im reasoning that working from home should be easier than having to face a commute etc - at 28 weeks this makes sense to me - but am I being naive ?

Sounds sensible, also a lot of places expect you to use up any accrued holiday before you go on mat leave so remember to factor that in as well.

Eeks I didnt know that - I will check that out - thanks !

I’m going at 37/38 weeks as even though I’m working from home I still want some prep time before the baby comes. I’ve accrued so much annual leave my trust are asking me to take what I can before I go so might even be going as early as 33 weeks. I’m happy with that too! I think wfh is more tiring than we think and a rest is important. Good luck!!

Totally depends how you're feeling. With both my babies I barely noticed I was pregnant unless I looked down at the ginormous bump. So yes I could definitely have worked right up until labour.

How's your wfh situation? If you have a comfortable work station then you'll be able to go for longer. I worked at the dining table with a fold up chair so my back got sore the bigger I got. So I then switched between that and a yoga ball. However on the plus side I think I was able to go a lot longer before starting Mat leave because I didn't have to commute 20 miles each way.

I agree that it depends how you are feeling. I'm a FTM too and I was working from home and I would have struggled beyond 37 weeks I think. But I have had quite a bit of rib pain (breech baby) which made it difficult to sit up at a desk all day. However, as others have said I've heard exercise ball can help if you have pain. If you feel well enough though, completely makes sense, I'm just a bit of a moaner. It's hard to decide isn't it. Good luck!

I’ve just started at 33 weeks - have 4 weeks hol to take and baby is coming at 37 weeks so just right.

I must admit I wasn’t chuffed at having to book my hols, but I’m so tired now I’m glad I did!

I would plan for that if I were you. Your mat leave would be automatically triggered if you had the baby early or were signed off sick (which could be for something like PGP if it prevented you doing your job in comfort/safety).

And do look into using accrued leave at the beginning of maternity leave. You also accrue annual leave while on mat leave and can use this at the end if you want to.

Sit on an exercise ball. You might think that sounds crazy, but in late pregnancy it's the only comfy seat!

Can you use holiday time to drift down to part-time towards the end? Also be aware that babies don't all show up on planned dates, coming early or late, and you need to plan handover, so final weeks can be tricky in working out what to do / pass on.

I’m having to use up my 9 days holiday I have left. So I’m officially starting mine at 38 weeks, mix of working from home and the office. Going to do 4 day weeks in my last month, then tag a bit of holiday on to the start.

Thanks same to you !! Enjoy those precious weeks off !

Thanks all for the great suggestions ! My current office is the kitchen table but I have the yoga ball on standby - I reckon I'll just hope I can power through and take it as comes !

I've just started maternity leave and I'm 37 weeks.
I think I've timed it right as I am feeling exhausted and struggled to motivate myself for work in the last week or so. I'm glad I now have time to rest and prepare both practically and emotionally for baby's arrival.

I can't remember when I started maternity leave with DC1 and I think it was a similar stage although I was working in the office then and not WFH.

Commuting isn't the only tiring thing about work IMO, my job is stressful even WFH and mentally it feels a relief not to have to do or think about it any more.

What you could do is plan to start maternity leave at, say, 39 weeks but if you are struggling towards the end you could use annual leave to start earlier. I don't think employers can force you to take all your annual leave before starting maternity leave, I think you're allowed to carry it over. I took most of my annual leave (mostly to cover childcare while nursery was closed over lockdown) but I do still have about 5 days which I will carry over now. It's nice to have lots of annual leave to play with when you go back to work after maternity leave, you can take it in a chunk before going back or use it for a gradual return before doing all your usual days.

The only word of warning I have on that is to be careful about your childcare plans for afterwards.

I planned to work until 39 weeks, have a week of leave and then give birth on my due date , and so booked childcare to start exactly a year after my due date.

When my baby (and therefore my maternity leave) was a month early, I phoned nursery to move the start date, and was told there was no space. It was a bit of a stress for a while working out what to do for that month.

I know in a lot of areas, you don't need to book a nursery before your 20 week scan to get a place at 1yo though, so maybe not so applicable.