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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

When did you start your mat leave? Any recommendations?

67 replies

Cyee · 15/03/2007 12:37

Hi everyone,

I'm expecting my first baby on July 8th and I'm trying to work out when I should take my mat leave from.

I don't really want to have too much time before the birth, but have no idea whether that notion might change when I'm the size of a house! I was thinking of leaving on the 26/17th June... 12 days before d-day.

Do you have any recommendations/experiences to share?

Thanks in advance!

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Themis · 16/03/2007 14:26

Asked for both my maternity leaves to start on my due date as it was my intention to take holiday leave before hand and use up that years leave. Took 6/7 months off after each birth .

I was luckily enough to have lots ofs holiday and actually finsihed at about 36 /37 weeks.

Both my babies were 10 days late .Was glad of the time off afterwards.

mamijacacalys · 16/03/2007 14:26

Cyee

I had DD last July 6th.

Took most of June as holiday, as had a lot owing, then started my ML the week she was born. Was bliss to have 3 weeks off to put my feet up as weather was sweltering and had a chance to spend time with DS, which was nice as he was starting school in the September.

With DS, born Sept 2002, worked right up to the due date (was only 4 months stat ML at the time so wanted to have as long as poss off afterwards.)

Based on my two experiences, I would advise you to do as I did with DD and have at least a few weeks off beforehand as I think being rested before the birth helps to make it a more relaxed experience and helps you recover from it more quickly (believe me, however 'easy' your labour may be, you will initially feel as though you've been hit by a train!) Also, being pg in the v hot weather is not ideal and all you will want to do when in 'jabba the hut mode' is lol around with your feet up (if you're baby is large like DD was, you will be physically incapable of much else anyway!) .

HTH and good luck with your pg [smile}

Themis · 16/03/2007 14:28

Also at that time if you baby arrived before your date of maternity leave starting you satred mat leave on the day the bay was born. ~( get my drift .

Dont know what mat regs say now, am well past that stage .

Good luck !

fridayschild · 16/03/2007 14:45

I stopped at 36 weeks for both. Had two completely healthy preganancies with no bother, but working FT while pregnant and having DS1 did mean it was harder the second time round.

I agree it depends on your work and commute, and your state of health. With DS2 I'd saved up holiday and was planning to use that to work 4 day weeks in my last month at work, but by then my clients were getting unnecessarily and needlessly stressed at the thought I was about to leave them AGAIN with my perfectly competent colleagues. I ended up working from home one day a week instead, which was helpful.

one other thing - although I felt fine while pg with DS1, when I stopped work my blood pressure went down, and some slight ankle swelling vanished so it had clearly been affecting me a bit

mumfor1standfinaltime · 16/03/2007 15:27

Hi, I left 4 weeks before due date.
Mainly because it was winter and it was cold and dark etc getting into work for 7am.I also got extremely big and couldn't cope with things.
I needed to rest as I wasn't sleeping at night at this stage, I would kip on the sofa at night for just a few hours then fall asleep watching tv!
I think you have to do what is right for your situation, yes later is probably better for some, but not for others.

Congrats btw!

lins1uk · 16/03/2007 16:19

i left my work at 29 weeks!
i think you should leave when you think the time is right and how you feel i was always tired.
lins xxx

pulapula · 16/03/2007 20:50

With DD, I finished at 36.5 weeks (end-Nov) and did get a bit bored as DD was a week late. I spent my time doing xmas shopping, writing cards etc but was very tired and slept a lot.

With this pregnancy, I will be having a planned c-section at 39 weeks (26 June) and plan to finish on 14 June. But if I get tired I will finish earlier, maybe early June.

Original poster

Cyee · 18/03/2007 16:45

Thanks Ladies!!!

OP posts:

theprecious · 20/03/2007 10:24

I am borrowing a friend of mine's idea and using my holiday entitlement to do four three-day weeks before my maternity leaves starts. Hopefully this will give my fill in / colleagues some time to get used to me not being around but not a complete cut off.

weeonion · 21/03/2007 17:08

hi - i'm 36 weeks and just had my first week off. actually it's overtime hours and then i move onto some holiday days left over. i really could not have went much longer - there was a 5hr return commute involved so this is BLISS!! i am lovig being off and making the most of it to be creative, nest, chill and pamper. my advice woudl be to give your self time - reduce your stress and take it easy.....

glittercaz · 21/03/2007 17:14

so, can i just ask, if you state that you'll start your mat leave from a certain date but decide that you need to take it earlier than expected (i think someone on here said 'i'll leave earlier if i get tired'), you can? xxx

pulapula · 22/03/2007 07:02

glittercaz- I'm not sure how easy it is to change mat leave once you've agreed to it. It was me that said i might start earlier, but I have some annual leave spare so will use that. i think the general rule is that you need to give 4 weeks notice of any changes. At our place, if you are sick in last 4 weeks they ask you to start mat leave then, even if you wanted to finish later, so it must be possible to make changes.

I work 4 day weeks, and have recently reduced my hours using leave to 3.5 days, which is better for my tiredness (i'm 25 weeks). But I wouldn't recommend anyone making a change to their conditioned hours as this affects your maternity leave pay. But I am hoping i won't be as tired as when i worked full-time last time.

RedFraggle · 22/03/2007 11:17

I think it depends on the company as to how flexible they are. With my first pregnancy I had planned to work until about 36 weeks but I felt so poorly towards the end that I asked if I could go two weeks earlier, I only asked when I was about 33 weeks, so a very last minute change but they were fine. It is worth asking your boss and then if they agree they can talk to HR for you if necessary.

This time around I will be using some annual leave first and therefore will stop working at 31 weeks. I want to spend a bit more time with dd before this baby appears on the scene!
I do know that personally there is no way I could have worked up to 12 days before my due date! I was just too tired.... But saying that, plenty of people do!

goldenpeach · 22/03/2007 18:01

The sooner the better, I went in late January (due in early April) and was glad as I was already big, had lots of pain at the back and pelvic soon after and couldn't really concentrate on the job anyway. If you're employed you might not be able to choose, though, but since maternity leave is now 9 months, you can go early and still have time with baby. I know of people who waited till the last minute and then gave birth before 40 weeks, meaning they stopped work and went in labour soon after, with no chance to rest in between. Your labour will be better if you had a chance of resting properly (I'm week 37+ and I need a lot of sleep to function, plus I walk like old lady, so being at home is good and allows me to do parentcraft and other classes and activities for new mums).

ale233 · 22/03/2007 21:24

With my fist I planned to start my maternity at 34 weeks but my waters broke at work on the last day, leaving me with no time off to prepare at all!!! This time I am going to start maternity at 32 weeks and hope i get a bit more time. I think its hard to decide because noone knows exactly when the baby will decide to come.

Emprexia · 22/03/2007 23:18

I planned to go til 36 weeks, being as i was only on the Checkout at Tesco - not too strenuous.

however, i was pregnant last summer during that dang heatwave and i was so HOT it wasn't funny. MY uniform was killing me.

I left at 32wks, and spent 7 weeks at home with as little clothing as possible, an Air Cooler and a Fan.

If you're due in July, you might want to take the heat into account, its really really uncomfortable being pregnant in summer, so unless you have air conditioning and the ability to sit in a freezer, then i'd plan to leave a little earlier.

Linnet · 22/03/2007 23:45

with dd1 I finished 3 weeks before my due date and then dd1 was 2 weeks late so it ate into my maternity leave. But back then you only got 12 week maternity leave.

With dd2 I worked until 38 weeks and then she was 1 week late but it was better as I got longer maternity leave this time around, I got 6 months holiday plus my 6 weeks worth of holidays.

It does all depend on what your job is, if you have to commute and how think you'll be feeling at the time, hard I know.

I remember when I went back to work all the snide comments I got from male collegues about how I'd just had a 7 month holiday! Oh yeah I was sitting around with my feet up all day! why do they think it's a holiday?

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