Did anyone manage to work until their due date?

[Thefallingleaf]

I’m due on the 23rd July, and am also a teacher. We break up for the summer holidays on the 21st 😆

I am really pleased to be pregnant but the timing couldn’t be worse which is typical. So hoping to drag myself through to the end and then have a full 12 months off. I work three days a week so will actually break up on the 19th, not that this helps much!

I started mat leave at 39 +4 ... which turned out to be the day DS was born. This time I'm booked for an ELCS at 39+3 and planing to take a couple of days off before, but no more. Much rather have the time at home with the baby. But I have an office job and can wfh.

I worked until my due date - I literally didn’t want my maternity leave to start early . However the last week before I gave birth was so hard 😂😅😅 I was struggling but determined to not use any annual leave or maternity leave.

Like some of the other pps, i expected first baby to be 1 or 2 weeks overdue and actually had her nearly 3weeks early after 2 days of mat leave 😔. So if you are working until the very end, get all your stuff super organised for if you suddenly have to leave.

Worked until 38 weeks - had a section booked the following week

Yeah I tweaked my due date so officially stared my mat leave after 40 weeks, went 17 days over before being induced so very glad I did!

With DC1 I gave birth on my due date after my waters broke the day before. I'd been great upto 2 weeks before my due date but for the last 2 weeks felt so large I could hardly move out of the armchair. Also, don't underestimate the impact hot weather has when you're at the end of your pregnancy. I Baby was born at the end of May and it was a very hot week.

With DC2 I ended up needing to have an elective csection, which was scheduled a week and a half before the due date.

So no, with neither of my pregnancies, would I have been able to work up until the due dates.

I did for my first - this was over 20 years ago and maternity provision was not nearly as good as it is now. I worked until my due date to save money and give myself more time with my baby. As it turns out she was 2 weeks late anyway (I went into the labour on the day I was booked for induction).

I was relatively young (late twenties), extremely fit, physically tough and had a straightforward pregnancy. You know yourself, your body and your capabilities so only you can make the call (and ignore anyone who thinks they know better).

Also a teacher! I was due during the Easter holidays - 15th April - so planned to work until the last day of term (8th) and then have a week or so to binge watch Netflix. Typically went into labour at work 🙃 and baby was here by the 10th! I found it fine working so late though, I was shattered but no less so than the first trimester which I found the hardest!

@HeadNorth i agree totally- you do what you think is best .

Set any date that you think is right to start your maternity. Also I’m sure closer to the time you will know better what you think is best for you baby .

My leaving date was my due date but I had baby a few days early so may leave started the day I had her.
I wasn't a teacher though, I worked in a bank part time x

Due dates don't really mean much anyway. You could still be 2-3 weeks away from having a baby by the time you intend to finish, or you could already have one! I was intending to work until 2 weeks before my due date. DS had other ideas and arrived 5 weeks early so I effectively worked right up until he was born (literally, I was not remotely prepared for an early handover so was frantically writing handover notes in the delivery room!) I think it's all very personal, I had a crap pregnancy but my bump wasn't especially big or cumbersome, so I was fine going up to London, standing on the tube, long days on my feet at events until I was 34 weeks or so (he was born at 35 weeks). I slept OK as well, so wasn't exhausted the way some women are later in pregnancy.

I would have liked a couple of days to "nest" and watch Netflix and enjoy being on my own before he arrived but, on balance, I think I would have been bored, and I'm really glad I got to maximise my paid maternity leave with him before I went back to work. I would have felt I'd wasted it if I'd had loads of time off before he'd made an appearance.

Yes worked until due date, didn't want to waste mat leave. Wanted to work later but wasn't allowed. Could have happily gone until 41 weeks.

Yes I worked to due date and had baby three days later. Unfortunately my mat leave is short so I wanted to maximise the time I had.

@Scarecrowrowboat this was me - work said maternity leave had to start from my due date .

Yup. Farmer. DD due of 24th October. Finished drilling 26th October (last job of the year I had to do) Labour pains started that night. I think the body knows when it can happen!!

Worked until 39 weeks and used annual leave until baby born at 39+6

I'm a hospital junior doctor so it was possibly the hardest thing I've ever done working through 3rd trimester but work did make some adaptations to make it safer for my pregnancy and I couldn't afford to be on mat leave before my baby arrived.

I worked until the day before my ELCS. I actually worked 10 straight days back to back, with several of them on my feet for 12+ hours. It was not fun, but I wanted to keep all my leave for once DS arrived.

Totally normal where I live though - unless you're on bed rest, it would be odd to go in leave before your due date.

God no. I already had my babies by the time their due dates rolled around.

With my first, I had my maternity leave set to start on my due date, but I was taking 3 and a bit weeks of annual leave before then. Not quite knackered, but still the right time to finish. Last day was supposed to be 36+2. Instead I was admitted to hospital at 36+1, delivered at 37+1, and went home 2 days after that. So much for rest and relaxation.

Second baby I wasn't going to be caught out again. Maternity leave was set at 38 weeks, with 2 weeks annual leave beforehand. Thanks to Covid, as there were no suitable alternative duties I could do, I was off from 28 weeks anyway. Doubly lucky that. Lightning struck twice, and I was admitted to hospital the day after the annual leave would have started. I was also 110% done by 28 weeks. I would have seriously struggled in those 2 months.

With my first I worked until 37 weeks. I worked until 38 weeks with my second, she was born at 38+3 and then I worked until 39 weeks with my third who was born a week later at 40 weeks

I worked up until 2 days before I gave birth.

I was really lucky though because I had the easiest pregnancy and loads of energy towards the end!