Anybody else self employed or a business owner?

[bubblegumbottles]

Just thought I would start a thread to see if anyone else is self employed and pregnant or a business owner?

I'm 30 weeks now and putting plans in place for this magical mystery thing called 'maternity leave'!

How is everyone planning on managing time off?

Hi bubble

I’m a self employed business owner, luckily have a business partner to take over whilst I’m out of action. My last day working was New Years Eve and I gave birth yesterday. First time off I’ve had in what seems like FOREVER. Cleaned kitchen cupboards, rearranged the house, cooked. Lovely. Now the baby’s here it’s all consuming, will be desperately trying to an establish a routine by the time I go to back to work in May (wishful thinking). It’s lovely to have taken a step back, it’s been a stressful couple of years work wise, but I’ve had moments where I’ve struggled with guilt and a little anxiety about not being there. 😬 Curse of the small business owner, I guess.

Try and enjoy.

Hey self employed here too though I do have a part time job at the moment also. Pretty much working right until late as possible and giving myself a month to adjust /heal when baby arrives and take it from there. As I’m a photographer I have a lot of physical and admin related tasks so can carry on until I can’t anymore so feel quite lucky.

Yes me. Self employed. Probably working up until the day I go into labour! Then I’ll only take around 3 months off as just can’t afford any more. I could do a few more financially but I’d lose all my clients! But I can work from home and my OH is doing some shared leave so baby won’t be in nursery for a while. I’m sad not to have that nice year off but the trade off is WFH with the baby - just hope I can manage juggling.

Me too, as I have a limited company I can pay myself a maternity package which is a blessing. I’m going to take as much time as I can before money runs out then try to just fit work from home around the baby... easy to say now! 😂

@Melamine In the same boat here! I have enough in the bank to probably take 5 years off if I fancy it but I love my business and don't want to lose my clients!
I suspect I'll be back to answering emails after 2 weeks 😂

I've had 2 dc whilst being self employed. Was back answering emails while I was lying in special care being monitored for eclamptic seizures 8 hours after birth. Managing maternity leave was a doddle compared to trying to run a business from home with an older baby/toddler, that's the bit I don't recommend!

I'm self employed and my pregnancy was unexpected and unplanned so don't have a stash of savings.

Must admit, I'm quite worried about how I will handle everything. I just tell myself that things will be ok and work out somehow, you just have to do the best you can.

Great reading other people's situations and experiences though.

My husband and I are self employed - we run a business together. I had a lot of nausea early on and we ended up taking over two months off, more or less, as he also desperately needed a break. Right now (I’m nearly 23 weeks now) we have no money at all, as a large cheque took too long to come in, and is taking a week to clear. It’s a bit worrying!

I’ll be working as long as I can (a lot of this job can be divided so I don’t have to do too much physical stuff - lifting awkward or heavy things hurts now!), and probably reducing my hours so that I get enough rest, when we’ve not got a large job on. I’ll probably take maternity leave for the 39 weeks, or however many it is, that the government pays for if you’ve been making the NI contributions.