Due date - maternity leave

[Holiday16]

Hi what is the latest I can go on maternity leave? I want to work as long as possible so I can have longer off at the end of my maternity leave with baby. I'm trying to save my holiday for afterwards too. Can I work up to my due date and if I give birth early I understand maternity pay starts straight away? My work are trying to get me to leave 2 weeks early so that I don't 'start labour' in work - even though the hospital is a 5 min drive from work. Also, I work in an accountancy office so it's not manual work. Any help would be appreciated- thanks x

As far as I'm aware you can go right up until your due date! They can't make you go 2 weeks earlier. I only had a week off before I was induced.

You can go right up until your due date. They can’t force you to finish unless you are sick in the last few weeks of your pregnancy.

Yes you can start your maternity leave on your due date if you feel happy working up to that point. Your employ can’t ‘make’ you do anything. If you go into labour/baby is born before your due date then mat leave basically starts the day after the baby’s born. If you’re off work sick for any pregnancy-related issue from 36 weeks onwards then mat leave will automatically start.

www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/leave

I don’t know if this helps but I was planning to work up to tomorrow - being 4 days before my due date. I finished last Friday instead. I also work in an office so nothing manual but the final weeks of pregnancy are tough on your body. Sitting at a desk chair gets uncomfortable - by 11am I would need to get up every half hour and pace around for 15 min. It gets annoying. Being off this week has been a dream - and I’m self employed so I don’t have the cushion of statutory etc. Don’t expect too much of yourself and I’d seriously give yourself a week off before due date.

You can work right up until your due date.
But check with your HR about saving up holidays for after Mat leave if you haven’t already - some companies don’t let you do that and you may need to us up what you have accrued before you go.

My mat leave officially starts 2 days before my due date but Iv finished today for 3 weeks annual leave first.

Yep both times I’ve scheduled it to start on my due date and both times I was a bit early so it just started on the days I gave birth.

Wouldn’t be for everyone but I didn’t want to “waste” maternity leave and am happy I did it that way.

I started mat leave 2 days before due date both times (was booked for Induction and then ELCS so I knew the date I was going in)

I went at 35 weeks due to holidays but could've worked right up to due date. He came bang on date. I will honestly cherish those 5 weeks I had on my own for the rest of my life, it was pure bliss.

You cane start mat leave on your due date, but check your companies policy on rolling holiday over.

I worked until 38 weeks with DC1 and DC2 and an aiming to do the same this time. As a pp said, it gets very uncomfortable sitting for long periods by that point and despite otherwise feeling fine I was glad to finish. For a few weeks before then, I took 1 day holiday a week so I didn't have to work more than 2 days in one go - it made a big difference and might be worth considering?