Maternity leave - twin pregnancies

[MrsEG]

Hi ladies

I am just wondering at what date people have taken their maternity leave with a twin pregnancy?

I am nearly 19 weeks and my consultant is keen for me to go off around the 28 week mark but this sounds so early. I am quite big, but not uncomfortable (yet).

I don’t have a long commute (20 mins in the car) and also have the option to work from home as and when needed. Ideally I’d like to work up to 34 weeks but is that really pushing it? (That is of course hoping they don’t come early, before my 37 week deadline!)

Would be really interested to hear other women’s experiences of it and when you went off/how you felt towards the end etc!

Thanks

28 weeks sounds about right. Everyone I know who had twins had, had them by 32-34 weeks - so it would allow you to have a few weeks to get ready for their arrival. Obviously it depends on your work though - my being able to wfh is the only reason why I haven’t taken my mat leave at 30 weeks (no twins but do have complications)

@Teddybear45 Thanks for sharing; Christmas break takes me to 31 weeks so perhaps that could be a good time to call it quits then in that case rather than pushing through to Jan.

My friend had healthy fraternal twins and 39 weeks this year. I think it so depends on your health and the twins health. I think making a tentative plan and keeping it flexible is fine. You are always allowed to leave earlier on doctor's advice - so there is no harm stating it will be a later start and then seeing how things go.

Thanks @LondonKate that’s my dream scenario really!! I think perhaps if I just make sure work are aware there may need to be a bit of flexibility after Christmas. Congrats to your friend! Mine are also fraternal, so the lower-risk of all twin pregnancies.

Earliest is 29 weeks for maternity pay/leave unless you are tacking on annual leave beforehand

I've just started my maternity leave, at 32 weeks. I'm still feeling pretty good and think I would have been comfortable to continue for another couple of weeks, but equally I'm aware that over-doing it could increase the chances of the babies coming early! I should also flag that I've had a pretty easy pregnancy (far better than with my singleton, in fact!), so my experience might be a bit 'best case scenario'!

If it helps - my consultant advised me to start maternity leave at 30 weeks, and I've heard a lot of other twin mums say that their pregnancies suddenly got a lot tougher around 28/29 weeks - but I personally didn't find that to be the case.

Thank you @PowerslidePanda - sounds like you’ve had a dream run! Congrats, I hope the next few weeks go smoothly for you. I think Christmas seems the best bet really then, I’ll be 31 weeks when I go off for the Christmas break but wondered if I could manage a week or two in January. But that would be 33-34 weeks and perhaps I should just accept I’ll have to use up a bit more annual leave and get my feet up if they haven’t arrived!

My fraternal twins are 5 weeks old. I started maternity leave at 34 weeks and they were born at 36+3.
I did start to struggle in that last week at work due to the tiredness, was barely sleeping with how uncomfortable I was. But it was probably perfect timing for me. You can always set and date and leave earlier if needed.

Thanks @boodles101 and many congrats!

I worked to 36 weeks but have to add I worked in the hospital and so did my DH, so he was driving, I couldn’t fit behind the wheel. I felt happier being there than miles away at home.

It was only the last week I felt very tired, I don’t think I could have done a further week. Mine came at 37w6 by section, no sign of anything happening naturally.

I worked to 35 weeks. Worked on antenatal ward though so was about three seconds away from delivery suite and obstetric consultants had I needed them. Although my commute was 45 minutes. I was absolutely fine and could have worked longer but they wouldn't let me stay, too big to fit in the bays! C/s for breech/transverse at 39 weeks and I'd happily have held off on that as well. Loved that pregnancy

I worked to 34 weeks with my twins and they arrived at 37+5. But I felt okay up to then and had no issues so I worked as long as I could and took annual leave before my maternity leave kicked in.

@chutneypig @SunshineCrocodile @Ginmonkey84 Thanks all this is really interesting, so perhaps I could go a few weeks in to January after all and preserve my mat leave/annual leave. This is really useful as I have my mat leave meeting with HR in 2 weeks so thank you for sharing :)

Just a thought, you don't mention if your twins are DCDA or mono, it may make a difference as MCMA usually come a bit earlier and may be more complicated pregnancies. Mine were non ID and a very bog standard pregnancy apart from there being two of them xx

@SunshineCrocodile DCDA; 19 weeks at the moment so touch wood but pregnancy has been fine, I didn’t even really have any sickness! Hoping it will continue this way!

I was self employed but couldn’t do much of anything from around 23 weeks due to severe SPD and constant braxton hicks. It was really unbearable. There’s no way I’d have been able to go out to work, I could barely move. Hopefully that won’t be the case for you.

Also, are your twins the same sex or do you not know yet? 25% of DCDA twins of the same sex are actually identical, just an earlier split of the egg. My boys are 3 and their geneticist has recently ordered a test to see whether they’re actually identical.

Really depends on how your pregnancy goes. From 26 weeks I was at the hospital weekly for scans. I eventually went on maternity leave at 33 weeks and babies were relievers at 33+6

I would definitely have liked a little more time to relax but it just means that I get to have more time at home with them before I go back to work.

Is your workplace flexible about when you do start your maternity leave? By that I mean would they be ok with a weeks notice of you deciding?

@SinkGirl That’s interesting - they have said since day 1 they are DCDA but had a scan at 17 week scan and they are both boys. We have the 20 week scan next week so I’ll ask about that. Sorry to hear you had such a rough time of it!

@bridgetjones1 Yes, very flexible - plenty of options to work from home and no bother with hospital appts no matter how many, I’ve been very lucky. I think this is my plan now - suggesting I maybe go to mid Jan but with the flexibility to stop sooner if I need to.

I planned to work until 34w but was put on bed rest at 22w! They didn't actually arrive until 36w and I felt fine tbh.

I went to 31 weeks. I had 2 other DC though and work was significantly easier than being at home. Also I remember increasing in size massively between 28 and 31 weeks. I distinctly remember thinking this is much easier than expected at 28 weeks but 3 weeks later on my last day at work I was heaving myself onto the tube.

I had DCDA twins, went on maternity leave at 32 weeks. I had an hour train and tube commute, and a fairly easy office job. Babies came at 37 weeks. I had a fairly straightforward pregnancy though.

I was pretty peachy at 19 weeks. I'm now 24 and solid as a rock, can't bend, can't sleep, can't sit, feel dizzy when I stand. Can't get up. Get stuck when I crouch down.

Non identical boy girl twins. Second pregnancy. Would happily have them tomorrow if they would be safe. I'm very very uncomfortable. Play it by ear OP.

If you think about it, the average baby is say 7lb. Let's say it arrives on its due date. And in the last few weeks they gain 1lb a week. So at 36 weeks, that baby is at 3lb. Ask any singleton pregnant woman how they feel at 36weeks. It's generally "like an exhausted, waddling stuffed piece of ham".

At 24 weeks, at 1.5lbs each, our twins make up 3lbs of baby. We're at the equivalent "dear god, how much more can get crammed in here" inflexible blimp stage and with potentially up to another 16 weeks to go

Plus we get 8 limbs kicking us in the ribs. Which is nice.

Can you tell they kept me awake all night kicking me and I'm not feeling #bloodyblessed

I am 19weeks today with MCDA twins. My plan is to work until 33weeks (6th Jan) as they will be delivered at 36weeks (27th Jan).
Everyone keeps telling me that I will need to leave earlier but dont want to leave too early.
So far my pregnancy has been straight forward but I will just have to wait and see and bring the date forward if i am struggling.

Mine arrived at 31 weeks, I was signed off from 19 weeks due to TTTS and SI joint problems. I had a 1.5 hour train commute.
I remember trying to drive at around 28 weeks and it was really awkward!

That’s interesting - they have said since day 1 they are DCDA but had a scan at 17 week scan and they are both boys. We have the 20 week scan next week so I’ll ask about that.

Unfortunately midwives, sonographers etc are really uneducated on twins - they think that DCDA means dizygotic, but a significant proportion are monozygotic.

NHS states 1/3 of identical twins are DCDA