Working until due date. Any teachers around?

[BiscayTrafalgarFitzroy]

My baby is due 23rd October which is also half term. This is my first baby and, health permitting, I'm keen to work as close as I can so I can have as much paid time afterwards as possible.

Would it be ok to request maternity to start Monday 29th Oct which is actually a week after my estimated due date? That way I can try and get half term paid as normal and then start maternity afterwards. Am I right in thinking that if the baby came during half term or early, maternity would just kick in anyway?

At both schools I worked at for my 2 pregnancies you had to start maternity leave on your due date and no later. So it would be 23rd for you. It might be different at your school though

No, you can’t start maternity leave after your due date. Just make your first day of maternity leave the first day of half term.

You have to use your due date as your first day of maternity m I think. I’m finishing 20th Sept, due 24th. If all goes well...

Check your school policy - mine was either that mat leave started on your chosen day if term time or on the day the baby was born if in the holidays. I held on until end of term (it was tough though!) to maximise time and then mat leave kicked in when DS was born (2 days after his due date). I had to email the council to say he'd been born on X date and therefore my maternity leave should begin.

Hi OP. All my babies were late and I asked to work past my due date but I wasn't allowed. I think your last day of work is your due date or day before? Hope that helps xx

I stopped teaching and started maternity leave the day before my due date. Actually, my maternity leave & pay technically began from 3 days after he was born, as I was told it had to start on a Monday. Never heard of anyone else being told this and suspect someone misunderstood the regulations when sorting my mat leave our, but I wasn't going to argue.

Has to start on due date at the latest as far as I’m aware.

Not a teacher but maternity leave kicks in as soon as baby arrives. I've always taken mat leave from my due date, as that's the latest you are allowed. I've gone slightly earlier though as had annual leave to use before going off.

Sorry, but no. You have to give the Sunday closest to your EDD as stated on your MatB1. This is the latest possible date that you can request to start mat leave, so in your case Sunday 21 October.

As everyone else has stated, no you can’t put a date that is past your due date. If your due date falls within a holiday, you will can give that date but if the baby comes early your maternity leave will start from that date.

I’m in the fortunate position of being due 8th September so I am going to start my maternity leave when the new term begins but will be paid during the summer holidays.

Sorry, OP, but pp are right. You have to give the Sunday which begins your expected week of childbirth (EWC).

I had an August baby. I checked

Ah ok. Thank you all. Was trying to get an extra week out of it but looks like it will kick in over half term!

Don’t think it has to be a Sunday - not in my area anyway, it says you can start any day of the week.

It's a shame but no your mat leave kicks in when baby is born / due date. My friend who is a teacher and due on 16th July is fuming about that - for obvious reasons!! Luckily for you a week won't make q huge amount of difference. I'm planning to try and work to 38 weeks...

You're brave wanting to work all the way up to the end.

For some reason (mostly because I was born 6 weeks early) I left for my maternity leave 6 weeks before I was due. I had DD 2 weeks later. With DD2 I also went into labour 4 weeks early spontaneously too.

As others have said, can't start after due date but it doesn't have to be a Sunday. I'm working till 38+5 and hoping this baby doesn't turn up as early as my last!!

Burgundy Book specifies Sunday. Local arrangements may vary from this.

I think I'm due at christmas, I think I'll start mat leave early oct. I just can't imagine doing Autumn heavily pregnant. What do you guys think?

I should add I've had a mc in the past.

@Buxbaum - fair enough, I'm in Scotland and just assumed everywhere could start any date as we can.

@peachesarenom - everyone is different as to how much time they need/want so you could play it by ear. I don't think a miscarriage necessarily means you have to go off early though, unless you've been advised to by the midwife or doctor?

I'm just scared Girlwiththearabstrap rather be calm and safe and not stressed.

I was due in the summer holidays. lea Teaching personnel told me my maternity leave would start the day after I gave birth. (Which is the last legal day for starting maternity leave). He actually arrived 2 weeks late in early September, the day before the new term started! (So I did actually start mat leave after my due date!)

Sadly, I have met many other teachers who didn’t know this, and started their maternity leave from their last working day instead of including school “holidays”.

I stopped around 36/7 weeks with both my pregnancies. I could still manage the physical aspects of the job but had a long commute and struggled with driving towards the end, I was so uncomfortable! with my 2nd pregnancy I was so HUGE that the seatbelt barely did up!

Both of mine were 2 weeks overdue, so I had 6 weeks of waiting for them to appear. If it hadn’t been for the commute, I could have easily worked for a couple more weeks. Then again, it was nice to have enough time to relax and get myself sorted out before their arrivals.

I was absolutely exhausted and stopped working at 32/33 weeks each time. I understand wanting maximum time off with the baby, but the weeks of maternity leave before baby #1 was born were the most peaceful, relaxing and blissful weeks I’ve ever spent and I was so well rested and prepared for the baby. I find that I get ill at the start of every holiday so the last thing I’d want is to work right up to the baby being born and be utterly shattered from the stress of the previous term. Take care of yourself as well as thinking about the baby - and you might be able to stretch things out at the other end with holiday anyway - go back a week before the end of the summer term and have six weeks on full pay at the end!