Maternity leave worries

[iverunoutofinspiration]

Is anyone else worried about going on maternity leave and concerned about their Mat leave cover doing a better job / projects crashing and burning / people forgetting about you / not having a job to return to?! I'm not sure if I am worrying unduly but I can't shake it to the point where I'm seriously considering cutting short my Mat leave to return sooner. Baby is due soon so maybe it's just me fixating?!

It depends what kind of job it is I guess. My last day before leave is today actually. Im a nanny and honestly if the cover can do a better job than me well good luck to her I can’t wait not to think about my job for a long time.

You have to have a job to return to legally though surely? Or it’s a redundancy matter.

I don't have the same worries as you but I love my job, love being productive and love working in general so I know that I'll miss it. I guess I worry about getting less social interaction and being unstimulated while being out for so long. I'll obviously still have family and friends etc to meet up with but my job is super social so it'll be different.

Yeah I personally am just taking six months and my partner is taking five/six months and for us it's a good balance I think. We're also splitting it up into blocks, so I get the initial time to recover, then he takes some of his months, then I can do three months when they're a bit older and can do more (and it'll be summer). Feel lucky we've this option now, and it works better financially as we both get it full pay

Yes! I'm on leave and my replacement is very capable. I've got all the big projects at work and I'm terrified I won't get them back...

Am due December and can’t wait for maternity leave!I know it’s not really a ‘break’ but I’ve worked too hard for the past 2 years (NHS) can’t wait for the year long break from work.

I feel exactly like this, I'm currently 30+3. I am trying to get all of the big stuff planned and sorted before I go so that its already sorted. I am also worried about who takes over and if they will completely change how everything runs and such so I will have to basically start over when I return. I know I shouldn't worry but I fully understand what you mean.

I don't even know when I am finishing yet.

It is completely normal and common to worry about those things. I know I did first time round.

However, once baby arrived I couldn't have cared less what happened at work. Priorities and perspective changes.

I did go back after a year of maternity leave and lots of things had changed but I adjusted and got on fine.

Changed jobs between baby 1 and 2. Didn't worry as much with baby no.2 but still did a bit. Was promoted whilst on maternity leave and so things changed again when I went back to work in a good way.

Your feelings are normal but please try and not let them get to you. Enjoy your baby and let what happens, happen.