Just found out in pregnant!!

[Sm21]

Hello I went to doctors today and found out im 6 and a half weeks pregnant. Is there help for living I can get? I'm self employed so when I don't work I don't earn and when I'm on maternity leave I won't be paid. If any one can help will be great :)

Congratulations!

You will probably qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) which you will get for 39 weeks. Currently its around £125 a week.

Congratulations!

You need to contact the job centre. You may be able to claim some Income Support and maternity pay.

If you're self employed you can apply for maternity allowance if you meet the criteria. You will not be able to claim SMP (unless you run a limited company and have been paying class I national insurance). More details here: www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Expectingorbringingupchildren/DG_10018869

Congratulations! :)

The maternity pay is it for after the baby is born? And also been told to make a decision on breast feeding anyone know what's best?

Congratulations :)

just wanted to add that there's a due in November thread here if you want to join us www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1412456-Nov-12-babies

Ok I may be mistaken about SMP - you should get Maternity Allowance though.

see here

No, you can start your maternity leave before the baby is born and you get maternity pay for up to 39 weeks, starting from your first week of maternity leave.

Breastfeeding is better than formula for a baby. But you don't need to make any decisions now - you've not even had a scan yet!

Head over to the pregnancy topic and have a look at the pregnancy info on the Bump to Teens section on the bar at the top of the page and Work and Money has useful info too.

Blimey, a bit early to be making decisions about feeding :o

For me breastfeeding worked, it may not for you. Plenty of time to do some research, have at think about it and maybe make your mind up later!

You don't need to make a decision about breast feeding yet. Take your time, do some reading up and some thinking.

MA - maternity allowance is what you'll get.

it's 90% of your regular income, or £12something a week, whichever is lower .

I'm also self-employed, and there's no cover for anything,really, apart from that.

you can do worse than sticking around on here - have a look in the pregnancy topic for friends who are due at the same time, and anything on BFing (breastfeeding) is under breast and bottle feeding.

I thought that but the gp told me to think about it :/

MA is £128.73 per week or 90% of your earnings, whichever is greater. You may not be eligible because there are minimum thresholds. Check that link I posted.

If you're not eligible for MA you may be for ESA.

hhhm, s/he's getting a bit excited i think.

one reason s/he might have mentioned it is that a lot of mothers have already decided before they get their positive which way they'll feed.
It's likely also that your area has a low take-up of BF, so they'll be trying to get pg ladies to think about it now to increase the likelihood.

Congrats! Youll probably qualify for Maternity allowance. Just ask the job centre for a form. Its quite complicated.

Re breast or bottle, breast is best but it is completely your decision and you dont need to rush to make that choice. If you decide to breast feed just make sure you have bottles and a bit of formula just incase. I bf for 3 days and hated it, i was up for 4 and a half hours feeding at night and just couldnt do it anymore. Dont let people pressure you either. I felt like i had to justify my decision to everyone.

It's never too early to think about breastfeeding.
I decided I would be breastfeeding at the age of 14. It was another 14 years before I had my first baby.

I'm self employed and qualify for SMA (almost the same as SMP which you get if you're employed through your employer). You do have to be earning a certain amount per week to qualify for the £125 level - if you're classed as 'low earnings' you don't get as much.

It's also tax-free (unlike SMP) which is a bonus! And you don't have to make your NI contributions either (you get them back in the form of a credit). I took mine quite early with no. 1 as my freelance work had dried up, I think the earliest you can start receiving payments is around 28 weeks (or something like that).

Which ever is lower not greater!

It's not taxed like SMP which is good although you don't get the enhanced pay for first 6 weeks.

what Katie said - i think the minimum amount is £30 a week

here

Yes you're right Nickel. You have to earn an average of £30 per week in weeks 17-25 to be eligible.

Katie I thought they said you had a 'test period' of something ridiculous like 66 weeks and you had to be working for 37 of them (just guessing here). Or am I wrong?

Well I do 220 every week

you'll just get the £128 then.

I qualified for nothing because my income is yet to reach a profit.

To get maternity allowance you have to have been working for 26 weeks during the 66 weeks before your due date.

There are other criteria too though. Look on the direct.gov website.

Oh no :( so when's best to get a form? After 1st scan? I need to live somewhere with my other half. I'm living in a rented house with friends and we wanna live together. I'm 21 and cause of both of our income I don't think we will get any help. But when I leave work on maternity leave he will be only one paying and it won't be possible :s