When did you leave work

[sepa]

Just wondering when people finished work (including any holidays taken before mat leave)
I am thinking 38/39 weeks. I work in an office job and have an assistant for bits of I need. Is this a realistic time (assuming DC doesn't come before 40 weeks) or do you think that i should look at leaving earlier? I'm 18 weeks so have 7 weeks to get this decided for work.

I worked in a very physical job so I opted to take maternity leave from 36 weeks and that included two weeks holiday I'd accrued.

A few things - the date you decide now isn't set in stone,you can change your mind with 28 days notice if you feel better / worse later on.
Check regarding holiday policy. I had my baby early and hadn't used my holiday in time as maternity leave kicked in automatically. I got it back but it was a stressful fight I didn't need.

First time I was going on annual leave at 36+3 starting maternity leave at 40. Was admitted at 35+5 so maternity leave kicked in as I gave birth.
Second time I left at 31 weeks (Just in case!), baby still in at 37+5
So basically don't listen to me

I think you are considered term at 37 weeks so baby could be expected to arrive anytime between 37 and 42 weeks.

I work in an office too and my HR lady was really nice. There have been two ladies go offer for maternity leave in different depts in the last 6 months and both started their mat leave for a month before their due dates; both ended up having c-sections just after the due dates.

I know I would go stir-crazy having that much time at home and would much rather have the time once my baby arrives.

I have booked mine to start 2 weeks before my due date but as a previous post says this date is not set in stone. If baby comes earlier, HR say that that is when mat leave will start - they just adjust the dates :)

I'm planning on working up to 39 weeks, though I will be reducing my hours slightly at 37 weeks. Self employed so no holiday or maternity entitlement to fall back on.
I think it also depends how you feel... I'm 34 weeks and so far not struggling at all even with a fairly long commute and a non-office/desk job.

With both DD1 and DD2 I started leave at 38 wks, with DD1 the first week was holiday due to the time of yr and needing to use it up.
In some ways I was ready to stop earlier with DD2 but keep going to have more time after the birth. I think I was more tired due to already having my 5 yr old to get ready in the mornings.

I was lucky with both arriving on their due dates I would have gone stir crazy having 4 wks at home if they went to 42 wks let alone longer if I finished before 38!

The reason I'm wanting to leave as late as possible is to have the full 39 week mat leave paid which will leave me 1 month left of 2016. I will then take that month as holiday. If I leave at 38 weeks then to have the rest of 2016 off I will had to take 1 week completely unpaid (which is why I want my holiday at the end rather than the start in case I have to have time unpaid)

I thought you did get stat mat pay even self employed? Just paternity pay you don't get if self employed?

38+0 at lunchtime, as DD decided to appear 38+0 afternoon

You get maternity allowance if self employed.

Both times I went/am going on annual leave around 34/35 weeks with maternity leave starting a week before my due date.

Currently 32 weeks and counting down the days! even though I have a quite relaxed office job and can work from home, just sitting at my desk all day is so tiring, and I get a lot of coccyx pain if I stay in the same position for too long.

37+4 with DS1
39 with DS2. I was knackered with DS2 because I also had a toddler but I went 12 days overdue with both. I'm a teacher btw.

Due to the timing I didn't have any holiday left and started my mat leave at 38 weeks. DD was induced 2 days later! I reasoned that if baby arrived earlier mat leave woukd automatically kick in, and if I wasn't feeling well enough to work the Dr would sign me off. I didn't want to sit around at home for weeks getting more and more anxious about giving birth!

Worked up until 2 weeks before both due dates.
Both babies came a few days before due dates so I had about a week and a half prior to each birth.
This was about right for me , I don't think I could be hanging around for 4 weeks prior to a birth.
I was fit and well and active throughout , I understand some people need to stop earlier due to medical reasons.

Ds planned to go at 34 weeks but ended up in hospital at 32 weeks and stayed there until he was born 7 weeks later.
Dd i started working from home at 34 weeks. Went on proper maternity leave at 37.2 weeks and dd was born that evening.

Left work to pick something up at 34 weeks DS arrived shortly after!

I'm finishing work at 33+3 and maternity leave is starting at 38 wks.

Reason being is that I'm due 1st Feb and I can't be arsed with returning to work 4th Jan plus our holiday year starts September and whilst we don't lose it, company policy is that you use all holiday before you start mat leave.

I'm also having a c section at 39 weeks so actually will only be on mat leave for a week before little one arrives

I'm finishing on Friday when I'll be 37+3. Then I have 2 weeks of annual leave and my mat leave starts officially 1 day before I'm due...

HR have said if the baby is early I'll get the holiday back as pay, but check your policy!

I also have had the last 3 Mondays off so I've been doing 4 day weeks - it's so much better as I'm so tired and can't get comfy to sleep - an extra days off is sooooo nice!

I finished at 37+1. Baby didn't arrive until 40+10 but I had a nice break! I did use my annual leave before my due date though.

2 weeks before due date as office work. Kept as much as I could for post birth. Good luck.

I work in an office, so not physically demanding (but relatively stressful with long hours) and left at 38 weeks. I had a straightforward pregnancy, no additional health problems, was mobile until I gave birth and early on had presumed that I'd be able to work right up I have birth. But I was totally ready to go by 38 weeks, and think that 37 weeks would have been better. Getting in to work just became a lot of effort especially if I had had no sleep also mentally I couldn't really focus on work properly by the end anyway. That said I gave birth at 41 weeks and was pretty bored in weeks in between! Also I had lots of annual leave and didn't start maternity leave until I actually gave birth

I worked in an office job but had a 45 minute commute then a 20 minute walk to get to work and the same to get home and I worked up to 39 weeks, which was the latest I could. I didn't want to be hanging around for weeks waiting on my baby.

I work at home mostly (and will be exclusively for the last few weeks). Planning on stopping work at 39 weeks, but have taken the first week of my leave as holiday so that if I think nothing is happening and I still haven't wrapped stuff up the way I want to, I can potentially work until 40 weeks.

Having said that my SIL pointed out that if I meet people on the NCT course I'm going on, some people will be taking mat leave about the same time as me and if you take leave it does mean you can do some socialising. That did make me think - I get quite task focused and was just thinking about baby prep and tying up stuff at work only.

I'm going at 35+2 and using holiday to supplement up to due date. I don't have the option to use holiday to extend maternity leave so needs using. I'm finishing at christmas so a good couple of weeks will be taken up with family visits etc. I also drive a 20 mile commute to work and if the weather gets bad I wouldn't want to be travelling. I may get bored but my logic is this will be the last time I'll ever be on my own with the freedom to veg out so that's exactly what I'll do!

Went at 39 weeks with DS1 and will do the same this time. Can't afford a long mat leave, so I want maximum time once the baby is here.

Due middle of Jan, so will be going back for a week after Christmas.

I left 4 weeks before with DS1, a week before with DD and the day before with DS2.