mat allowance for freelancer Q

[redundant]

hello, have just found out am pregnant, due Aug next year. I am a freelancer and have already committed to a project next year which will run from May to November. I would really like to honour this if possible - I would be working completely from home, and its part time too, so hope it might be possible to take a week or two off around birth (which is likely to be a c-section) and then carry on...

My Q is whether I can claim Mat allowance from when the project ends in Nov, to allow me to take some delayed time off then to spend with baby, without feeling the pressure of looking for work straight away. Does anyone know if that's possible/allowed??
thank you.

just to update in case anyone else has this issue - rang the DW&P - I won't be able to claim any delayed mat allowance - can't claim after baby is 3 mths old.

Seems utter madness - basically makes no financial sense for me to take the job/project on - I would be not too far off what it will bring in by just sitting on my butt and taking 39 weeks of mat allowance! Crazy, crazy system.

it's a shame and doesn't fit with what you want to do, but as MA is supposed to be effectively a replacement for SMP, those rules seem fair enough tbh.

SMP has to start when the baby is born, you can't delay it at all. And the vast majority of women will want to take time off immediately the baby is born.

Irritating for you I know, but there it is.