First timer.....when should I start maternity leave??!

[MrsHarry]

I know maternity leave is a very personal thing but I need some sort of guideline as I have no idea what is an average time for people to stop work. I am a primary school teacher so my job is MASSIVELY active (ie: no time for feet up in the day or extended lunch breaks)and I'm due mid-June so likely to be quite hot. Last year temperatures in my classroom reached 35 degrees and I couldn't cope then. I am thinking about stopping work about 5 weeks before due date but really have no idea how big/ungainly we get around that time! Are there any other teachers out there who've done this before and can give some advice??

I'm a nurse, so also active and warm environment. I lasted til 35 weeks with first, 34 with second and erm....12 weeks with third (learned that no good will come of pushing yourself!) you will be big and uncomfortable by 34-35 weeks also you will be VERY tired ( you will not sleep as well at this stage either - sorry!) you get more leave now than ever before, so I would use it a bit earlier, if you're sick you don't have to take leave until 36 weeks (or is that just the NHS?) the thing i always tell first time mothers is...enjoy it, you'll never be in this position again! Leave early and bask in your pregnancy! is there a holiday around that time to extend your leave without using your leave ifyswim! Might also make the break easier! Good luck and Enjoy!

maybe say 36 weeks? that gives you a month before the baby is 'due'
you can always change it to sooner I think

I'm not a teacher, I'm a local government officer and I stopped at 33 weeks. I'd had loads of problems with exhaustion, depression, etc. and I felt my work had suffered enough. Ironically though, when I started my maternity leave I was feeling the best I had done throughout the whole pregnancy so I felt rather guilty! But you're right - high temperatures and a heavily pregnant woman don't mix. And I presume you have to be on tip top form dealing with little kids. I also found that in the high temperatures my feet and legs swelled up appallingly - if you got that then being on your feet all day could be really uncomfortable.

I am a teacher and I worked full time up until my due date last time - can't say I would recommend leaving at 40 weeks !

This time I am leaving 4/5 weeks before my due date.

I would say that my size was not an issue as I wasn't that big even at 9 months - but I did get very tired even though I tried to sit down as much as possible.

Also by this stage you tend to have weekly ante natal appointments which means you are in and out of school (trying to arrange cover).

Also, your baby could come early and as my first labour was only 1.5 hours from start to finish I would have given birth at school had I been early ('luckily' I was two weeks late!)

On the whole I would say leave 4-6 weeks before due date which gives you plenty of time to rest and potter about doing some shopping. Don't be worried about feeling bored (why I worked up until 40 weeks) as you will feel tired regardless of size by this point.

I think 5/6 weeks before your due date should be fine. My DD was a June baby and I finished mid May. I had a 'stand-up-all day' quite active job at the time, but felt fit and well in the latter stages of PG. I was a little bored on mat leave, but had lots of rest and was really glad that I did once DD arrived!

Thanks for all your advice.I had a couple of dates in mind before I posted the message and now I'm pretty sure which one I'm going to go for. I don't think there's any danger of me being bored before the birth...even the summer holiday is never long enough for me!!

Fab thread!

I'm also due in June and work as a teacher in a special needs school. Very busy, very physical!

Was hoping to leave about 2 weeks before EDD - am now thinking may consider leaving even earlier!

I finished ... on the day of my birth with DS1 (he was 4 weeks early (was ringing work with instructions from the labour ward...) and 2 weeks pre-birth with DD2 - personally, I'd rather have the time with the baby than my tummy ... but I don't have an 'on your feet' type job, so perhaps not a fair comparison..
Good luck...!

Catkin,do you realise also that after April we can get an extra 3 months of Statutory Maternity Pay?

This brings the total paid leave to 9 months if you wanted it?

When I found that out I was less anxious to try and keep working close to the due date.

I'm a teacher I also work in SEN and have quite a 'full on' class I'm leaving 4 weeks before my due date, which is the first monday of the feb half term. Someone else at work is due during the easter hols and is planning to work up to 5 days before her due date.. I'm not sure this is the best choice.

Also a teacher and on feet all day. Wanted to leave 4 weeks before birth, but ended up going 8 weeks before, as absolutely absolutely absolutely knackered. Cannot explain how knackered I was.

Colleague also wanted to go 4 weeks before birth, but ended up leaving 8 weeks before for same reason

i work in retail so was always on feet aswel! i gave up work when i was about 36 weeks! i think it completely depends on how u feel within urself when u want to give up work! x

Also am D&T teacher, so very physically demanding, and kids at dinnertime, no escape...

I'm 35 and a half weeks now, and Friday will be my last day at work. It is a desk job but I have a long commute at either end of the day which seems to last forever jsut now. I'm utterly exhausted from lack of sleep, and I feel like a house end (hope that's not just a Scottish expression, but you get the idea !) I also seem to spend most of my day at present talking to well meaning people about my pregnancy. I am threatening to have a t-shirt printed with due date, leaving date, no I don't know what sex it is, no I'm not telling you our favourite names, yes we've bought a cot, yes we're very excited, yes I'm sure you/your wife/your friend/your colleague etc had a very traumatic birth. (I'm a bad person)

The upshot of this is that if I had to choose again I would have definately packed in working at least a couple of weeks earlier, probably before Christmas when I still felt vaguely human and could have enjoyed my time off, rather than just needed to be collapsed on the couch. That said, I know people who have worked to 37 or 38 weeks and still felt energetic enough to enjoy it, so it probably comes down to the individual.

Could you work up til summer half term (end of May?). That will give you about 4 weeks or so, and the first week won't count.

Ratfly, no, unfortunately that would only give me 2 and 1/2 weeks before due date. If I'd been due end June then half term would have been perfect.

Actually think I'm going to go first or second week of May.

I would definitely recommend taking at least 4 weeks - to have some time to yourself for what may possibly be the last time for a long time, to let the stresses of work go and get your head round the whole birth/having a new baby thing, to hang out with other enormously round-shaped women, to go to the pictures, all of that stuff. And because babies do sometimes come early. My first was born at 38 weeks.

I'm 30 weeks and have a very sedentary desk job. I am exhausted. I am not going on leave until 38 weeks because I need as much time afterwards as possible. When I arranged it, it seemed like a good plan. Now I'm not so sure. Even sitting all day becomes uncomfortable and I can't walk far without getting totally out of breath. With all the others I gave up at 29 weeks- wishing I had this time too.

Evenhope - I sympathise. Mine's only an office job but it was hell for much of my pregnancy - ironically my last couple of weeks before starting maternity leave were much better - think I was more relaxed. I had SPD as well so could barely walk at times. Can't you bring the start of your leave forward? I know you said you need the time afterwards but your health's really important too.