maternity allowance and self employment, please help

[mandygj]

hi im looking for any advice anyone can give me.
i have been self employed (hairdressing) for a year next month and when i registered self employed i said i wanted to pay class 2 national insurance contributions. i got a letter a few months ago for the amount of £55 which i paid in full at the post office a few weeks ago (had until end of july to pay it)
anyways im 30 weeks pregnant and i sent my form off for maternity allowance about 2 weeks ago.
im really panicking that im not eligable for maternity pay, im not sure how it all works and im going to really really struggle if im not entitled to it, does anyone know about maternity allowance when self employed and had any similiar experiences?
ive read a lot about class 2 national insurance and it makes it easier to get maternity allowance if you have been paying it, but im not sure how long or how much you have had to have paid in order to qualify for anything..
im so confused, so im sorry if this all sounds confusing.
i dont know what ill do if i get nothing, ill have to go striaght back to work right away but im having a c section (2nd) and i know how long it took me to recover first time round!

thanks xx

just to add, i got a letter this morning for another class 2 national insurance payment. two payments amounting to £120 which was dated for last year, i now have until end of july to pay that too.

You will be eligible if you registered self employed a year ago and have been paying NI for that time. Don't worry!

Just to clarify, you will get MA rather than SMP.

Maternity Allowance pays a standard weekly rate of £135.45 or 90 per cent of your average gross weekly earnings (before tax), whichever is the smaller.

MA is paid for a maximum period of 39 weeks.

so i will qualify for it then? ive only paid £55 national insurance since i became self employed, since that was the only letter of payment ive recieved, until today.. a lot of people ive spoke to have told me i wont get anything but im pretty sure i must be entitled, thanks for feedback x

Pay the bills you now have and you will have paid 18 months of Class 2, you only need to have paid 6 months to qualify for full MA of £135.45 for up to 39 weeks. The bit about 90% of earnings doesn't apply to the self employed.

ive already sent my forms ect away for my maternity pay so ill maybe need to wait and see what i get back and pay the bills off as soon as i have the cash and then notify them that im up to date with payments and see if that makes a difference