Hi All, so I'm 24 weeks pregnant now. I have worked 25 out of the 26 weeks to qualify for maternity allowance as I was employed however I quit my job to start my own business and then found out I was pregnant, I had really bad morning sickness for the first few months and didn't do anything to do with the business as I do screen printing which is quite physically demanding and I had spent most of my time in bed or by the toilet.
I have set up an Etsy shop to start selling my prints that I have done recently but I want to know if I will qualify for maternity allowance as I don't think I will make enough money being self employed in the short space before my baby is due to pay national insurance so if I register as self employed now will they allow me to pay national insurance voluntarily? I hope this makes sense.
Any advice welcome x