When to take mat leave? Teacher due September

[Stuckandconfused94]

I'm due on the 30th sept. Officially I told work I'd go off on the 20th sept as I won't have a timetable or any classes so thought it'd be easy work but knew I could bring it forward if I wanted to.

I'm going to go back for the first few days of the new term (return on 1st sept after hols) but can't decide whether to just start mat leave on 6th sept when all the kids go back and spend some time to myself chilling/doing house bits/nesting/resting. Also not sure about covid and whether or not I should request to wfh.

This is dc2 and ds1 will be going back to nursery full time from 1st sept until my due date (he's dropping down to 2.5 days a week thereafter).

I guess I feel guilty that we'd be paying for ds to be at nursery and I'd be at home basically doing nothing except sorting the house. We could afford it but going back to work for longer would mean having more disposable income before baby comes/ having less time unpaid before I return to work before July 2022 summer hols.

What would you do? I will be 37 weeks on 6th sept and won't go overdue as being given induction on due date due to low pappA.

I would 100% start mat leave sept 6th and not feel guilty about it! For me, having my second was 1000x harder than having my first (sorry!) and you'll kick yourself in hindsight if you don't give yourself the rest!

No help for your actual question, but I wanted to say don’t forget about shared parental leave! I’m using it to cover some of the holidays next year and it’ll bump up my pay nicely.

I’m finishing at the end of September when I’m 37 weeks for an October baby and I’m also not timetabled. The rest will probably do you good after what I imagine has been a busy summer holiday!

My due date was September 20th and my school return on 2nd, I opted to start my mat leave on the 2nd.

As it turns out I’m having a section on 3rd so my mat leave literally starts the day before I deliver!