Maternity leave

[emilyx123]

Just wondering if anybody has gone on to maternity leave at 29 weeks pregnant? Or what's the longest people have worked up until..

Thanks x

Mat leave was to start on due date, and I was taking annual leave from 36+2 weeks. I was very ready to finish, and was really looking forward to a nice long rest and getting everything ready for my baby.

Instead I was admitted to hospital with pre-eclampsia at 36+1, and had observations every 4 hours until 37 weeks where I was induced.... So much for that final, nice, long, child free rest. 😭

In answer to your question, going on maternity leave at 29 weeks seems incredibly early to me. I can't speak for everyone, but I still felt absolutely fine at 29 weeks. And I definitely wanted the full time pay.

Also, if you finish at 29 weeks, you could be spending up to 13 weeks of your leave without a baby. That's a full quarter of your maternity leave right there (assuming you take the full year)!

@MichelleOR84 haha thanks for this! I'm liking the idea of having time to rest for the third trimester also before baby is here.

I've originally planned to take 4 weeks annual leave before my due date so I might try to aim for this! Unless of course it gets too much and I need to finish sooner. X

DC 1x 36 weeks
DC 2 & 3 x Due Date
All jobs were very active and stressful and I had bad SPD in the third but I just kept thinking that the pregnancy was temporary but the time I got the other side with my baby was something I'd always remember.

Currently 32 weeks and I would be so bored had I finished at 29 was feeling great then. Starting to get more uncomfortable now but nothing to make me think about finishing early.

Got 2 weeks leave booked at 38 weeks then mat leave starts on due date, unless I go before
But working from home at the moment so can Potter and rest and do prep for baby so hoping to be all sorted by 35 weeks

Thanks everyone for your replies ☺️

I'd definitely rather the time after so I can spend longer with my baby so think I will work up until 36 weeks then take 4 weeks annual leave!

I think in the current environment it depends on your job. I’m wfh as a teacher until 39 weeks, suddenly much more achievable to work to 39 weeks than if I had to physically teach 6 period days.

Me! Baby arrived at 29 weeks. Would have kept going otherwise though!

I went off at 36 weeks and it felt just right, I started to get health niggles after, to extra swelling, changes in movements and it was helpful to be able to get these sorted. As well as just generally just being tired and immobile by that point. I had a lovely few weeks before the baby arrived at 40w.

I've been furloughed at 33 weeks, I'm already super bored!

I finished at 28 weeks, my then husband had gone blind driving to work & we were spending so much time at the hospital trying to get a diagnosis I was shattered so I ended up going off sick & started my ML early, good job as ds was born at 37 weeks & I had been in hospital for 3 days before with pre eclampsia.

I went off at 37 weeks which I was pretty pleased with as I had awful PGP. DS was born at 39 weeks so not too bad.

Went to 38 weeks with dd & had a nice week, then was super bored till she came at 42weeks. Been furloughed since 29 weeks this time & i feel like I’m going insane !

I'm due to start mine on my due date - unless he arrives before then. But I envisage he is going to be late. Currently 36 +3 weeks pregnant.

I start maternity leave on Monday at exactly 29 weeks! I’m a nurse and wanted to stay safe. I want to spend the next 6 weeks preparing for the baby and having a really good tidy. Then the last six weeks I want to relax do hypno birthing, read, nap etc

I was due to finish at 38 weeks, was feeling a bit rubbish at 36+6 so took leave for 3 days and on the 3rd day I went into labour, it would have been nice to have a bit of time off before the baby arrived, we had nearly everything in place but I remember my husband popping home whilst we were still in the hospital to clean and make sure we had everything!

I finished at 36 weeks and gave birth at 37+4. I felt like I didn't have enough time to myself before the baby came but I also wouldn't of wanted to finish any earlier in case I went overdue.

I did but because I was in a job where I was being taken advantage of and couldn't physically keep doing some of the things expected. For example I'd often be lone working in the office and I'd get a call saying that something heavy needs hauling up to the top floor, I wasn't supposed to do heavy lifting but there was no one else there to do it.

My first baby came at 33 weeks so I’m planning to go off at 30 weeks this time as there’s a high chance of it happening again. We’re also moving house. I might use a few weeks holiday but expecting another early baby.

I used annual leave to finish at 36w, a week earlier than planned but I was just exhausted by the commute by then.

@emilyx123 I finished at 36 weeks (had to because I needed to use up holiday time) and I was so glad. I had a lovely month just lazing around, seeing friends for lunch, having naps, batch cooking for freezer Etc. All the sort of pottering around stuff that I haven't had time for since I had him. I went into labour on my due date so I might have felt differently if I'd gone two weeks over but I don't think so.

Also I couldn't drive after about 36 weeks so that definitely impacted my decision as well!

I started my maternity leave on my due date but took 4 weeks holiday before that so technically finished at 36 weeks.

For me, that was perfect. Whilst a lot of PP have said they were so bored with more than a week off, for me having the last month of pregnancy at home with no commute or stress about work was ideal. I was much more comfortable having that last month in comfort of my own home being able to potter about as I pleased.

Everyone is different. Do what feels best for you.

@schafernaker I've also been working from home as a teacher since 27 weeks which is not what I was expecting! Didn't even get to say bye to my class 😭 I was planning to finish 2 weeks before due date plus 1 week half term holiday. I'm actually relieved to be at home as I don't think I would have made it til 37 weeks running around after 50 three year olds ...but still strange times

I go on maternity at 38+3, wanted as much time as possible with my baby once she's here

With DS I went off at 36 weeks, I'd planned to stay until 37 I think but I had a severe blood clot and couldn't walk so went off early. DS was born at 40+6.

This time I'm going off at 37 weeks but I'm having a planned section at 39 weeks and have a 3 year old DS so was planning on having a nice 2 weeks rest whilst he was at nursery but unlikely that will happen at the moment. I'm working from home at the moment (part time) as is DH (barely anything to do) anyway so we will probably be quite bored by 39 weeks and will have all our DIY and odd jobs done by then. Good news for DH though as he won't have to use annual leave to have some time off due to Corona.

I wfh and had a feeling that DD would be late, so i went on leave the friday before my monday due date, DD was born at 40+4