Working until 38 weeks - what do you think??? (long, sorry!)

[spg1983]

Hi all, I'm currently 14 weeks pg with my first child. I'm a secondary teacher and really love my job. I've seen the head teacher over the hols and told him about being pg, he was absolutely lovely and said I've got to go and see him when term starts to discuss dates etc.

My ideal scenario would be to work until an end of term or half-term, which would give me a choice of finishing at Xmas (31 wks) or Feb half-term (38 wks). I'd much rather have more time off once LO is born but am worried about working until 38 weeks.

Here's my thinking...

Against : I have not had a baby before and am therefore unsure how well I'll cope once I get heavier. We're also 90% sure we'll have ofsted in this academic yr - would be good to miss that! I'll also be teaching in 2 different blocks so potentially having to walk around a lot...

For : I think the school would change my rooming if needed so that I wouldn't have to move around the school. I'm also a real "fighter" - I have only had 2 sick days in 5 years despite having had swine flu, shingles, glandular fever and also spent 6 weeks teaching one-armed after dislocating my shoulder and having to wear a huge brace 24/7. The kids were great and helped me loads with carrying stuff etc and I know they would again. I hate having time off work, as you can probably tell!

There have been 2 other members of staff who have managed to make it through to 38 weeks in the last couple of years so it wouldn't be totally unheard of...

What are your thoughts? I think I'll have to name a date next week - it's so difficult!

By the way, the reason I'm thinking half-term or end of term is to do with teaching contracts - a good maternity cover teacher wouldn't be able to start until the start of term /half term if they're already in a contract. I guess normal supply could be used for a couple of weeks if I stopped at 36 for example but I'd feel so much better if it was one person throughout my leave...I've had days where I've gone on a course and used supply for just one day and returned to a trashed classroom :(

spg1984 if you feel comfortable doing so then I say go for it.
I was in the same position as you a while back, wanted to spend as much time working as possible and then spend my maternity leave with my baby once she's born. I'm working up until 39 weeks because I have the ability to do so - I work at a desk at the moment so its nothing too strenuous, I can get up and walk regularly and my drive home isn't too bad. I'm 32 weeks now and will be working from home in about a month so again, I've got the ability to work for longer if I want to which I fully intend to and have given notice to do so.

I think if you're confident that you can handle the long days then go for it and as long as your school make exceptions for you and help out then it shouldn't be a problem. This is my first baby and like you I'm a fighter and never have time off. I didn't know how I'd feel in the later stages of PG but what I will say is that as these final weeks go by, I'm getting heavier and very uncomfortable so things are understandably harder - even getting off my bum to go to the toilet. BUT I certainly don't feel like I'm at the sofa stage where I don't want to move either.

Good luck in making your decision :) xx

I'm a secondary teacher and my plan was 38 weeks which would have taken me up to the summer holidays.

As it was the summer term my timetable was lighter due to exam classes leaving, so less planning, hardly any marking etc.

I really struggled towards the end, I was utterly exhausted. My baby was also very low in my pelvis which made it painful to walk or stand. I taught sitting down a lot. I stopped walking over to the staffroom. 3 days before we broke up there was a case of swine flu and as I was pregnant I decided I couldn't risk it and left early. This knocked over 2 weeks off my maternity leave as with the holidays I could have 'worked' up till the birth but I cried with relief as I just couldn't do it anymore.

I'm another one who's rarely sick and soldiers on. But I really wasn't expecting how bad I felt near the end.

It could be different for you, of course! But don't count on it.

That said, you can leave when you like, it doesn't have to be the end of a term. 31 weeks is too early. I'd go for 36 ideally.

Congratulations! I'm a teacher and planning to leave at 37 weeks as it coincides with October half term. My worry is that it's an 8 week term and lovely HR lady thinks it'll be a slog :s you have to decide what's best for you; I certainly wouldn't want to be entertaining OFSTED inspectors at 30+ weeks pregnant...!

There isn't much you can do to tell how you're going to feel later on. I worked up to 39 weeks with both and although had some sciatica with DS was happily giving presentations all morning at 38 weeks. I think your best bet might be to assume you can go to 38 and then take it week by week as you get closer.

Dont be a hero, you are no better thought of. Finish as early as you possibly can financially to make the most of the time you will have to yourself to do the things you enjoy doing on your own/preparing etc. You will never ever have this time again.

I speak from experience.

Good luck x

Congratulations!

I planned to work to 38 weeks (though mainly from home so much much easier) and DD came at 35 weeks. I had not done a handover or anything - was a disaster for them. Then when I tried to do a quick handover on the phone when DD was 2 weeks old was not effective as kept wanting to laugh as work seemed so pointless compared to miracle wonder of PFB.

Anyway, sorry, point is watch out for the early arrivals!

I was planning to work up until 38 weeks as job I was in wasn't particularly strenuous however DC had other ideas arriving at 37 weeks. although I was very pleased for his early arrival I do regret not having the time to do things in the house that you will never have time to do again!

Only you will know your body as your pregnancy advances - all I will say is listen to it! Perhaps work towards 38 wks initially will an aim at reviewing it at 20/25 wks say.

Wishing u all the best

I don't teach. I planned to work to 38 weeks with DC3.

I also had her the Wednesday of my last week at work - cue a call off " umm I won't be in today I think I'm in labour" which dropped then in a hole.

Unless working the extra half term has huge knock on benefits in terms of time at home with baby I would leave earlier.

Hello,

I am currently 31 weeks pregnant and originally was going to work up until week 37, however I feel fine in myself. My job is not tedious as I am at a desk most of the day and the drive to and from work is not far at all.

This morning I moved my maternity back by a week as I just don't want to be at home bored for potentially 5 weeks (if I go over) if I still feel ok nearer the time I may even work another week... But will play it by ear and see what happens.

If you have employers and students who will help you (carrying things / move your class room etc) then I would say go for it, you will get more time with baby when he / she arrived and paid the higher rate of maternity for a bit longer.

If however you decide as it gets closer you can't manage just tell them that and leave earlier :)

Good luck and congratulations

xxx

It's such a personal decision. I'm 35 weeks now and finish at the end of next week (2 weeks annual leave, so mat leave starts at 38 weeks). I have been knackered and totally without motivation for several weeks and am very very lucky that in my line of work a) I am mainly desk based and b) work is very quiet in the summer holidays as so many of our clients are on holiday themselves.

It it wasn't for the fact that in all honesty I have been able to coast for 2 or 3 weeks, I may have had to finish earlier. My main motivating factor in staying this long has been that I work on a team of three and my boss had taken 3 weeks off, only coming back the day before I leave and the other team member is a new graduate who I couldn't handover to.

You sound like you might be able to crack on until 38 weeks to me though. I had a sneaking suspision I would feel like this. Whilst like you I very rarely have a day off sick, I am the type who feels knackered and "under the weather" fairly often.

You do need to give a date, but it can be changed up to 4 weeks before leaving date. I initially told work I was working until 38 weeks but changed it a couple of weeks ago to 36. I'm really tired a lot of the time. I think the rest will do me good before baby comes.

I agree with snowchick, you will not have a lot of time for yourself after the birth (read "any") so I would take a couple of extra weeks off and just do "you" things, sleep, read, go out for dinner (!), charge batteries etc.

I worked til 38 weeks and wished I had left it later! DS was overdue so I was at the twiddling thumbs point by the time he arrived. I think it depends how smoothly your pregnancy progresses and how tired you feel at the end. Will you be able to sit down more/ do less running around towards the end to make life a little easier for yourself?

I finished work at 35 weeks but had 2 weeks annual leave so started my mat leave at 37 weeks. I was so stressed but work on my feet all day for 13 hour shifts. I was working extra shifts in my annual leave to get a bit of extra cash and went home at 5am on a night shift after horrendous back pain, my job is quite physical and I was bending up and down most of the night (reading patient drains every hour as I am a nurse). In the end I cancelled my extra shifts and thought that's it I'm gonna be tired enough when baby comes I need a rest. It didn't help then that we moved house at 37 weeks, added stress and worry and feeling of helplessness in moving boxes. It was no wonder baby made an appearance 2 weeks later after I'd been loading dvds into a cabinet and scrubbing the bathroom bare!

I think if my job wasn't so physical and I'd have an opportunity to sit down, other than on a break, and I didn't work such long shifts I would go to 38 weeks. I think if you feel good and you obviously love your job why not carry on? You may even go overdue in which case you could have 4 weeks off. If it also puts your mind at rest then it's surely a good thing finishing at the end of term?

You could tell your principal that you want to try for 38 weeks but it's obviously subject to your health and your unborn childs?
Admittedly I'm not a teacher, but even if you have to finish early and they need to get in a temp to cover a couple of weeks before your cover arrives; it's surely early enough in the school year that it shouldn't compromise any exam students that you have? People get ill suddenly all the time, schools cope and students take the piss. Nobody dies.
Provided that you have the lesson plans all ready, handover docs etc nice and early [recommended as by then you won't have any interest in doing it] it should be relatively straightforward if you have to go a bit early.
I worked to 39 weeks in a desk job [didn't want 4 weeks twiddling my thumbs] and baby arrived at 39+1 despite my best laid plans :(
All I would say is that babies do come earlier than you plan for and if you end up with no time to laze about eating crisps and watching crap on tv you will wish you did things differently for years to come. It was still worth it though not to be going back to work at 5.5 months. I got my two weeks at the end of mat leave when the phased "getting to know you" childcare kicked in. :) Much nicer then, I could actually move about and my ankles weren't like melons. Still couldn't have a lie in though. It's not the same when you have to get up and sort out a drop off. It was v nice to tootle off and have a leisurely coffee and a shop for new work clothes though.

I'm a teacher and worked until three weeks before the due date with my first. Found the commute to work coupled with the pressures of teaching pretty tough, but perhaps could have worked longer. After dd was born I kind of felt I'd rather have had a bit more time off work to rest and prepare mentally and physically as I had no idea how tiring and stressful the run up to the birth and the actual labour would be. I took much more time off (in spite being part-time) in the run up to my second and third babies, and this time around finished at the end of the Summer term (baby due mid September). I feel loads better for it, but do understand that it is a personal matter dependent on so many factors. Good luck with the decision!

Plan to work until half term and if you don't make it, it's not the end of the world. I worked until 34 weeks with ds1, it didn't coincide with the end of term or a half term, but my class still had great cover for the rest of the year. That really shouldn't be a worry for you, you'll have bigger concerns by then

Keep in my that after 36 weeks, if you are off sick for pregnancy reasons your leave starts automatically. Also, there's no knowing what pregnancy is going to throw at you, no matter how good your sickness record.

Hmmm. You may have the baby any time from 37 weeks (yes, many first babies are late but lots aren't - mine wasn't!). I'd sort of recommend going to 37 weeks but that is only because I am spectacularly crap at pregnancy and couldn't really do much but huff around like a knackered hippopotamus for the last month or so.

It's an impossible decision really. I am also very rarely sick and dreaded the "home for up to five weeks waiting" scenario, so decided on the 38 wk end date for starting ML. Well, it got harder and harder and although I have a desk job, I had to seriously cut down the physical efforts from about 32 weeks, due to some premature cervical opening. I eventually started working from home at 37 weeks and then ML started at 38 weeks, by which stage I was longing for it. My DD (first baby!) was born on 38+1 in a pretty straightforward birth. So first babies are not always overdue! I'd had little time to rest really and was pretty tired. And as a real kicker, it meant I lost a week's ML (not in UK and here you are legally obliged to take one week before the baby is born and if you don't, you don't recoup it).

I'd say you can't judge now how you feel at the end of your pregnancy and I think oscarwilde 's suggestion and practical approach are probably your best bet.

I am working till 38 weeks myself and i am currently 36 weeks! It has been fine for me so far. I guess it very much depends on the type of work, how your pregnancy has been and your personality ie i hate sitting at home and doign nothing, specially as i have managed to get almost everything done and ready during the weekends/days off...

Good luck!!

start here if you want to read my sob story.... if not start after the further down ;)

I ended up giving up work at 35 weeks. Mentally I'd left a couple of weeks before. I'm a big lass and being pregnant with a big baby (we're predicted 10-12lbs), I was just finding it harder and harder to get up in the mornings. Coupled with the fact this little one was conceived a little earlier than planned, we're trying to finish doing a house up before he gets here!

It is a personal decision though - I was set to work up to 37 weeks (I'm not a teacher so don't have the worry of term timings), but I just wanted to leave come to the end of it. I know potentially it means I lose out on money and time at the end of ML, but there's still so much to do, people I want to see etc...

I'm 38 weeks tomorrow and we're not moved yet, so resigned to the fact that we'll still be camping over at my parents when he comes along. The last couple of weeks trying to get everything done has been hard - I'm exhausted. I've got SPD and I waddle anyway (head is 3/5ths engaged), my knees won't cope much longer and I'm getting thigh muscles like a bodybuilder, add that to lack of sleep from discomfort and really strong braxton hicks, I know I wouldn't cope if I was still in the office.

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I suppose the long and the short of it is, only YOU will know when you are ready to give up work. When you go back, speak to the Head, explain your intentions, but also make it clear that if you feel you need to leave earlier, then you hope they will give you that opportunity. I never expected pregnancy to feel like it does - it's hard work. My hats go off to those who cope with life in general, and those who have other children to look after too - they deserve medals.

One step at a time and do whats best for you.

I did until half term which was 37 weeks. I didn't have spd or anything, just a huge baby! I did ask to finish at 35 weeks when it got to the time as I was on my knees but then ofsted were due so I decided to stay on and ended up doing 37 weeks. However, I have a variable time table so I didn't have as much teaching as a standard classroom teacher. Another classroom teacher who did the same as me and was due the same time as me had her baby the day we broke up :)

My real advice would be that the world turns quite happily without us. There are wibbles but people get on and can do your job so do what's best for you. I soldered in and I didn't realise that sick leave when you're pregnant doesn't count towards normal sick leave in the sense of monitoring. I had lots of extra tests and I wish I'd been a bit kinder to myself rather than forcing myself to go into work so I 'didn't let anyone down'. I've been treated badly since I have been on leave and I feel like a mug to be honest, so do what is best for you, not school.

I would have worked longer if I hadn't been made redundant. See how you feel.

I'm 35 weeks and working until 37 weeks and regretting it. I am tired and distracted and feel unable to relax and prepare (mentally or otherwise) for the baby until I finish work.

If I had my time again, I'd finish this week. I really doubt that anyone will remember or thank me for working so late to fit in with colleagues' holidays plans etc. I was thanked when I made the decision months ago but no one remembers now that this isn't my choice.