self-employed mums-to-be

[seasister]

I'm self-employed (a freelance communications person). I have been for 15 years and now I'm pregnant at 40, it's the first time I've ever stepped out of the job market (even though I've not always worked full time so I can do creative projects).

I'm a bit freaked by it, to be honest. I don't know how long a maternity leave I'll take, but whatever it is will be a longer break than I've ever had. I'm scared all the other freelancers out there will jump into my grave and leave me unable to get work for some time, especially in this climate.

Plus the usual fears of going from staunch independence to depending on (lovely) partner; and issues that affect self-employed like, we want to move, will I be discounted by the mortgage company if I can't show income...all these sorts of issues...

I'm interested to hear from other self-employed pregnant women/mums. Just to hear how it was, the pros and cons, I suppose and any bits of advice!

Thanks,

Oh, and on keeping work, I dropped everything but built it all up again. Some pieces of work I got back but others were new and I've also turned plenty of work down. That was in 2007 though...

But remember if you're working part-time you need relatively less work to fill a week. Taking on too much is a nightmare because you do end up doing it all after you've got a baby to bed.