When shall I start my maternity leave?

[kat025]

Hi all!

I'm 14 weeks pregnant and told my work 2 weeks ago. Yesterday i was called in to speak with HR to discuss the pregnancy, she asked me when I wanted to start my maternity leave....
It's not something I have actually put much thought into. I said I wanted to work as long as possible but unsure realistically when is the best time to leave. This is my first pregnancy so unsure if it's realistic to work until 2 weeks before the due date or if this will be too Tiring?

I would have any advise on what people have done previously :)

Thanks!

It’s completely your choice, and you don’t have to tell work anything about leave dates until you are 25 weeks, and it won’t be official until they have your MatB1 form (from 20 weeks)

Rule of thumb, put a later date. If you put say 38 weeks and at 36 weeks you were really struggling, you can start maternity earlier. If you put 36 weeks but feel great, you are unlikely to be able to delay starting leave.

I put 37+4 ... planning on 36+4 as teaching full time with pgp is really not fun!

I started mine 4 weeks before my due date.

It seems a lot but I wanted at least 2 weeks off before DS came and one of my colleagues had recently gone into labour two weeks early (on her first day of Mat leave).

It's lovely to have the time to chill, rest a bit and sleep.

I started both mine at 39 + 4 and took 10 to 15 days holidays so I still had some time off. Most places will allow you to start it earlier if you need to but unlikely to let you work longer once a date is agreed.

With my 1st I worked until the week I was due and I was fine and quite able x

I started mine from 36 weeks (1st baby), it was good to have a few weeks to wind down from work stress before the baby arrived! I didn't realise how much I needed it until I stopped!

I'm starting mine in 2 weeks at 36 plus 6. I've been told I won't go over my due date due to gestational diabetes otherwise I'd be inclined to work until 38 weeks

My maternity starts on my actual due date, but I have 4 weeks holiday booked in before then so ill be 35+2 on my last day in work. I have a stressful job so I'm looking forward to time to wind down and relax before baby comes.

I’ve said 2 weeks before my DD as I have a feeling this baby is staying in for a while, and it would be so annoying (to me) to be off for a month and then the baby be 2 weeks late

The average gestation for first babies is around 41 weeks but of course baby could arrive early so I think you should allow yourself a few weeks just in case.

With DC1 I planned to start maternity leave at 38 weeks but towards the end I was struggling with energy and motivation so I used annual leave to finish earlier; about 36.5 weeks IIRC. DS wasn't actually born until 41+4, so I ended up with 5 weeks doing not much!! But it was quite nice to have that down time before my life ended everything got turned upside down.

Now I'm pregnant with DC2 and I'm not sure what to do. It's more knackering this time because of DS so I'll probably want to start maternity leave around 37 weeks at the latest.

Mine will be starting on my actual due date, but I am also taking a week's holiday at 39 weeks.

I think it depends on your circumstances, how demanding your job is, what your commute is like etc.

I have been allowed to work from home in my 3rd trimester, so no commute to worry about, which makes a huge difference and I'm happy to work till the end (unless of course the baby decides to come early). I think I will appreciate having more time at home with my baby than before the birth.

I did til 38 weeks. Baby born 2 days later.

Just tell them when you'd ideally like to finish. It's not binding. If things change you can bring your mat. leave forward.

I stopped a month before due date but that included 2 weeks annual leave I needed to take due to when our leave year ran.
It was summer so it was lovely but a bit too long. I could have worked another week or more.

Whenever you want OP, I started mine at 29weeks, I wanted to have some time to be “just me” and do whatever I wanted for the last time ever!! 🤣 it was bliss!!

Holidays started at 36+5. Mat leave a week later at 37+5. Meant I had a couple of weeks to chill before DS was born at 39+0. Also had a lot of monitoring the week before so I wasn't juggling that with work which was good

I’ve done both mine at 35 weeks. Except with no.1, I took 4 weeks annual leave first (I couldn’t carry it) & maternity kicked in at 39 weeks. This time, I’m doing two weeks annual leave first & maternity is kicking in at 37 weeks. I’m going back earlier this time so wanted the remainder of my annual leave at the end!

Personally, in both pregnancy I’ve been glad to finish for different reasons. My first, work was pretty full on at the time & I was tired, emotional & stressed. It was so nice to finish & have a few weeks to decompress & enjoy some time for myself. After baby was born, I was even more grateful I’d done it as I found newborn life quite a shock!

This time, I’ve literally just finished & wow am I glad. I’ve had a rough HG pregnancy & im just so much more uncomfortable this time! I’d drive home from work in tears at the pain in my ribs & bump! Baby is flipping between breech & transverse and I’m finding it a lot more painful that I ever did with my head down first! I don’t get so much of a rest this time, I have my toddler Thurs-Sun to entertain but Mon-Wed are all mine to have a lovely rest

It really depends on your health and job. I was originally going to go off on my 39th week and was quite happy to do so.

When my pregnancy suddenly became higher risk and I had more medical appointments to attend I couldn’t cope with the thought of working till then and being so stressed. So I changed it to 35 which was much more manageable.

I went on mine at 28 weeks, the earliest I could, purely because my job is pretty physical (I also have SPD) so got taken off my main work and then given alot less hours but was still pretty demanding on my body (plus being awake at 5.30am when all you want to do is sleep was getting to me >

I started mat leave the Monday before due date but left at 36/37 weeks on annual leave

38 weeks with first (born 42 weeks), and 30 with second - so tired and couldn't have done a day longer.

I have a sit down office type job, finishing at 38 weeks, but using one week of leave so mat leave starts at 39 weeks. I'm almost finished and the last 2 or 3 weeks have been quite a slog, but glad I am maximising time off after baby comes. If money/time off wasn't a factor I would have happily stopped at 36 weeks. Still got quite a bit to sort out and am sleeping terribly so could have made use of the extra time!

I work in the theatres on the delivery suite, so on my feet a fair amount. I wanted to finish at around 36 weeks to have a nice long rest before baby arrived.

My last day of work was scheduled for 36+2. I was using annual leave until maternity leave itself started on my due date.

The reality was, I was admitted into hospital (mid-shift I might add....) with pre-eclampsia at 36+1. So maternity leave kicked in immediately. My nice long rest turned into a hospital stay having my blood pressure checked every 4 hours until induction at 37 weeks.

I'm not bitter at all.

Thank you everyone! I want to try and work as long as possible, I sit at a desk all day so least I'm not on my feet like some of your mummy's!

I think it's a great idea to save holiday days so will look into this!

Thank you so much! Xx