Maternity Allowance Question

[DaphneBridgerton]

Hi guys, I'm 29 wks pregnant.
I was employed until March last year (thanks covid) and went self-employed to try and some money consulting.
I've had a few separate projects so far and earned a decent amount of money.
Including my employment pre-April, I definitely meet the criteria of working 26 weeks out of the 66 weeks before my due date.
HOWEVER... I haven't yet registered as self employed which I was advised is not a problem as I'm still in the tax year if you see what I mean, but that means I obviously haven't made any National Insurance contributions or paid any tax on my earnings yet.
Is this going to affect my ability to claim Maternity Allowance?
I am so confused...

You have the option to pay towards it normally

The whole process is madly confusing from what I remember! But I think there is an option to pay ‘voluntary’ NI contributions (for people who haven’t paid yet) in order to get the allowance. Not 100% sure though. I spoke to them on the phone a few times and although it was a nightmare to get through to them, they were really helpful when I actually got them on the phone!