best time to take maternity leave

[twinnie13]

Hi i have been married now for 3 years and coming to the end of my TC and was thinking about possibly getting pregnant. i was hoping to go on maternity leave when i am PQE 1.5. someone at my work mentioned that it is best to wait until 2 years PQE before having children. but to be honest i dont think there is a right time and i doubt i can wait that long. what are your thoughts? and has anyone faced discrimination as a result.

I work at a mid sized city firm.

how old are you OP - if you are under 30 and don't think you have any fertility issues I would wait a while
if you suspect fertility issues or are say 34 plus i would just go for it - as if any issues could take time to sort

I wouldn't wait - you have no idea how long it might take -or if you have underlying fertility issues. Could take years - it dies for some people - and believe me, you don't want to be beating yourself up that you didn't try sooner because of a job/training. If you are ready to try - try!

Good luck.

that is true - however OP I would talk to women in your field/firm about how they manage a career with children to get a feel for it
how many senior women are there in your firm - what is the support for work life balance
and there are loads of threads about discrimination here - although mostly it just that carreers slow down a lot once you have kids -
also it is a lovely time I think personally when you have two incomes -

It does for some people