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!

I'm a secondary school teacher like u and would also prefer to finish with a term- I'm due Christmas day and am hoping to get to the end of term (private school so a bit earlier than state). My 1st child was due 24th Jan and so I started maternity leave at the beginning of the spring term, it was 2010 and the school had a week of snow days I remember being so frustrated that I could have 'worked' that week! My reasoning this time is that the last week of term is not that strenuous and I should be able to do it, work are realistic though and are probably fully prepared for me to end up leaving at the beginning of December.

I worked in my desk job up till just about 37 weeks and was fine. I still did a lot of walking too - often walked the 2 miles to work, slowly but with no real problems. I could easily have managed it to 38 weeks if it weren't for the fact that I was induced then.

In your situation I'd aim for 38 weeks but re-evaluate nearer the time. And also get your school to think about plans for if you need to go on leave earlier, 37 weeks is considered full term and plenty of babies turn up before they're expected! And you have no idea now whether you'll have any unexpected complications that require lots of monitoring, early induction, time in hospital, need lots of rest etc. I was induced because of gestational diabetes so spent a lot of the last couple of months back and forth from the hospital for extra appointments. If you do need any extra monitoring during the last few months, your school will really need a plan for your cover.

I only mention this as I'm slim, fit and healthy, with very little time off sick, and I was expecting a very uncomplicated pregnancy. So it came as a surprise to me that I had complications.

congrats!
honestly none of us know what will happen. I worked with DS1 until 38 weeks commuting into London and it was fine. But apart from the travelling bit, and the walking to work (about 15 mins from KX) I sat down all day. My pregnancy was easy (apart from the heartburn and the swollen feet) and I could probably have worked right till I had him. We moved into a new home when I was 22 weeks and I did all the DIY stuff like painting and assembling furniture. No problems there either.
People kept telling me to enjoy the freedom I could have if I stopped earlier, but a) I was bored silly and needed the distraction and b) you can't really appreciate it because you have no concept of the alternative until bub is born LOL
So what OSCARWILDE said, basically.

handbagcrab what you say here is very interesting... Can you explain more?

"and I didn't realise that sick leave when you're pregnant doesn't count towards normal sick leave in the sense of monitoring."

One final comment from me - I have heard teacher friends talk about the unbearable stress of preparing for Ofsted. If you've done it before and found it very stressful, long hours etc then you either need to set expectations nice and early with your Head about taking on extra work [ie NO] ; or if you can plan to be gone, then do so. I don't think they give much notice of arrival any more though do they ?

Re the illness thing - if you are repeatedly off, or have a maternity related illness (eg bedrest) your employer can insist that you start your official maternity leave early. You can't simply call in sick for a month and then start it.

I'm 34 and 2 currently and due to finish work at the end of next week.
I have a desk job and thought it would be easy, but I'm really struggling and counting the days to be honest.
The killer for me is that I'm really struggling to sleep properly which (for me anyway) makes everything 10 time more difficult when I'm this tired. Also very uncomfortable as for the last 4-5 weeks have been getting very strong braxton hicks.

Like a few people have said I'm hardly ever off sick (and haven't had any sick days whilst I've been pregnant) but would definitely struggle beyond 36 weeks.

Each pregnancy is different :)

hi,
I'm 22weeks, and have just handed in my 'maternity notice' to HR. I'm saying (now) that I'll work till 38 weeks (but have one week holiday after, so mat leave starts a bit later). However, it is totally possible to change this and start earlier, and i will do so if I feel too tired, or the weather closes in and it's too stressful to get to work (am due end Dec, and roads were atrocious last year up here).
I will have one week all to myself whilst ds1 and ds2 are at school, then hopefully a bit more before baby arrives.

I'd suggest you plan what seems sensible now, but make sure you have the capacity to alter this if you need to.

Hi, secondary teacher here too. I worked until 38 weeks in both my pregnancies (as a HOD and then as SLT) so I could finish at the end of the summer term both times. Both girls were late anyway (2 weeks and 1) by which point I was thoroughly fed up of wasting maternity leave. Working was fine though I was tired and appreciated exam classes finishing and the extra time that made. Incidentally, Ofsted came the term after I returned the first time and I came in on maternity leave for the inspection the second time (feeding on between the interviews)! It's manageable but do what feels right for you and you can always go a little earlier than planned if need be.

I didn't mean you can have nine months on the sick! I meant if for example, you had a day or two off sick when pregnant and then were poorly when you went back after mat leave it wouldn't trigger the 3 times in a year absence monitoring. That's my understanding anyway. Probably best to check with your la just in case this isn't a standard thing. I had a cts for downs and only took the day off for the procedure as I felt bad about taking more time off but in hindsight I was being really hard on myself and a day more wouldn't have made any difference to school in the grand scheme of things but might have been a bit easier on me. Anyway, it's done now :)

Cvs not cts sorry if that's confusing.

I don't know if it is connected but everyone I know who finished up later in pregnancy went on to have baby early, so had hardly any rest time before the baby arrived. Friends who finished up 34/ 35 weeks then went on to have late babies so were waiting around for ages, but were able to completely rest.

I'm in the middle, finished at 36, baby came 37 weeks. I was stressed to the max right up until that point though. I think my stress and baby coming early are connected but I can't prove it obviously.

Handbagcrab that is interesting! I had one week off after amnio but I assumed it would be treated as usual sickness absence and that is what they did.I may ask HR to make sure they record it as maternity linked.

DC one was born at 36+1, does that help?

Just to clarify, pregnancy related sickness should not be counted towards absence trigger points, however it will still be marked down as a sick day and paid in accordance with your company's normal sickness policy.

If you are off with pregnancy related illness after 36 weeks, your employer can force you to start maternity leave then. If you are off prior to 36 weeks (or after 36 weeks but not with something pregnancy related eg flu) they can't make you start maternity leave early.

Personally I couldn't have worked past about 36 weeks, however I was fairly unwell during my pregnancy so was already signed off by my dr at this point.

SPG1983 are you starting your leave at the beginning or the end of your holiday? Make sure to start at the end if possible (eg the Sunday before due back to work) to maximise the time off you have. Means you get an extra week/2 weeks (depending on length of holiday) at full pay :)

I'm working until 39+1 weeks. On my hols now as latest I can take them before students come back (academic at a university). Start back 17th.

Work have been good in getting my teaching load down as much as possible. I'm currently 30 weeks and so far things have been okay.

I'd say see who it goes and if yo can't manage just start maternity leave early.