When did you start maternity?

[TomorrowToday]

4 weeks before too early?

I intended to stop at 39 weeks for planned section date, baby arrived at 37 weeks. I was absolutely raging when my waters broke, I hadn’t eaten dinner so was hungry and I’d stayed up late so I was tired. Eat dinner and go to bed early every night just in case!

I finished work 2 weeks before my due date but then they wanted me to have an induction at 38 wks so I finished work Friday , went to see Britney Spears on Saturday and then went it for my induction Monday (which turned into an emc on Tuesday)

Nope. You'll be exhausted that sounds about right! Although if it's your first baby it might be late. You could always bring the date forward but book annual leave at the end of your work and if you feel like doing more work then you cancel the annual leave.

I really recommend taking the time to desires and rest before baby comes though x

Keep yourself busy with batch cooking healthy freezer meals and getting life admin done, and try and see friends with kids for coffees. Maybe go to daytime cinema and for pregnancy massage

I stopped at 36 weeks with my first, I had a really stressful, demanding job with long hours. The only way to not work silly hours was to go on leave. I’m glad I did, baby was born at 41+1 and I don’t regret having that time off.

2nd time round I have a much nicer job! Planning to work until 38 weeks, I’ll have Wednesdays off for around a month before then so I can have a day to rest in the middle of the week. I did that last time too and it worked well.

34 weeks. And I'm glad because I'm being induced at 38!!!

My leave started at 37+2 and I went into spontaneous labour that evening around 4 hours after logging off. DD was born at 37+4.

37 weeks is such a weird time because you could have the baby any day, but it could also be 5 weeks away!

I booked a week off before due date but baby came the first day 🤣
honestly I think it’s dependant on how you feel and how physical your job is.
I was wfh and have a relaxed manager so it was fine. They say your first is always late… mine wasn’t!!!

I had lots carried over from the 2 years of covid previously and it needed using up so I couldn't tag it on to the end of my mat leave. It needed using up or I'd lose it. Plus I had a really strenuous job with very early starts and I wasn't sleeping well so permanently knackered! And I'm not sure if your mat leave can start after your due date but I may be wrong with that? So for me my due date was 30th November, my mat leave started on the 29th November and I ended up having her the 8th December. But because of all my AL that needed using up I went off at the beginning of October.

Worked til due date. All came late though so still had one to two weeks before baby born.

What will you do for those four weeks?

@Unexpectedlysinglemum thanks for the annual leave tip.

I went on mat leave 22 days before my planned c-section. I was so uncomfortable and needed to rest.

@Unexpectedlysinglemum Problem is I’m not remotely well enough for anything like that. Sitting down for a long time is uncomfortable because of my back which rules out cinema visits etc. I’m just in limbo land It is frustrating, there is a lot I’d like to do but can’t! (I’m also a notoriously terrible cook!)

I had planned c-sections on a Monday and worked up until the Friday before. I have a desk job and I decided id rather have the time with the baby.

It really depends how you feel, how much rest you're likely to get at home, what kind of job you do.

OP, finish whenever feels best for you. 4 weeks is definitely not too early. I have an office job, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t exhausted. You don’t tend to sleep well when you’re that big and I found sitting at a laptop all day uncomfortable by that point. It’s nice to have a rest, get things done and prepare mentally for a few weeks. I’ll be doing the same with my second pregnancy. Again, taking a couple of weeks of AL, then starting mat leave. I may even start 5 weeks before. I also used it as a chance to read a book as i didn’t have energy or time to read for the next year.

I’m going off at 38 but now 32 and already feeling like I want to! Mainly it’s the preparation for baby and the fact I don’t have time to do any of it because of work and am too exhausted while working full time.

I used holiday for couple days and started maternity the day they were born for all 3 babies. I had very easy pregnancies.

That was full-time too

@TomorrowToday sleep. I also have a toddler. We're also moving a few weeks after baby is born. I'm due in 2 weeks now and glad because it goes so quickly!

I started 6 weeks before baby was due, but I knew I'd be going back very part time so wasn't worried about maximising baby time.

It was great, even though it was late covid so I didn't really go anywhere much. But I didn't enjoy my job.

Not all first babies are late, but of course.you never know. I started maternity at 38 weeks thinking I'd probably go overdue (all my family had), but I had to be induced due to waters breaking at 39+3 and baby born at 39+5. I still had 1 week which I spent cleaning, swimming, walking, meeting family/friends. I would have been annoyed if I didn't get at least that week haha!
I have a busy job and walked 40 mins there and back, I did think I'd have to go earlier at some points due to pelvic girdle pain but luckily it went away after a while. I did find walking a bit much towards the end so for the last week I got the bus, but I thought it'd be best to stay active, encourage baby into a good position etc.

The average date of delivery for a first pregnancy is 40+5; 40+3 for subsequent pregnancies, or so I read somewhere a few years ago 🙂of course, I can't tell you whether planned sections, which are usually done at 39 weeks, were filtered out, but I presume so.