22 weeks pregnant and employed as 'casual' . Do I have maternity rights?

[Taichimum]

I currently really enjoy a second job working 2 or three Sundays a month, every month. However my contract says I am 'casual' staff, which apparently means I am not on a permanent contract even though I work regularly and on an ongoing basis.
No Sunday staff have got pregnant before and my HR department so far have not not come up with an answer as to what I am entitled to. I was not expecting pay but I was assuming I would get a period of maternity leave. However as they are taking so long to answer (now two months have gone by) I am starting to think they will offer me nothing and I will have to leave when I have the baby.
I am pretty gutted about this as it may have been my only job after the next baby as my other employer is not keen to renew the flexible working arrangement I am currently on and I don't think we can afford two lots of child care anyway.
Does anyone know if I have any right to maternity leave in this situation?

In a real rush but sounds as though you probably qualify if you work regularly and ongoing. See this factsheet about casual staff and other atypical workers and their maternity rights.

also this about pay and other entitlements.

have to run but have a read and come back if any queries!

I was bank staff at a hospital working five days a week. I got the same maternity pay rights as all of the other staff, I had no intention of going back so didn't look into that.

Thanks for your replies. I have rung ACAS and they cannot say whether I am entitled or not. They think it is possible that I will be offered nothing because of how my job is described .i.e. casual not permanent and I have no contract. However the pattern of work that I do is like a permanent member of staff, which they thought might entitle me to mat leave.
Any other advice gratefully received.
Still have no reply from HR....

taichimum it sounds from what you describe that Acas is right, and your pattern of work would mean you are entitled to maternity benefits. You may not have heard from HR because they may well be taking advice as you are.

I would contact them, maybe an email so it's in writing, saying that due to your pattern of work, the fact that you are employed regularly and on an ongoing basis, you should receive maternity benefits and you look forward to receiving their confirmation. You could attach the information I linked to about casual workers entitlements.

Without knowing more I can't say whether you should definitely be entitled, but it sounds as though you should be, so a bit more of a strongly worded letter or email letting them know that you have been looking into your entitlements may help. They may assume you are asking them what you should get because you genuinely have no idea, and of course they may not research it properly or give you an entirely truthful answer if they think they can get away with it.

Many thanks flowerybeanbag for taking the time to help me. That is all very good advice. I still have not had a reply from HR on the maternity leave, although manager has now conducted a risk assessment which is a bit of a laugh as I am already six months pregnant!
I will send a stronger email as you suggest if I still have no reply by the end of next week. I understand they might be taking advice but it is a getting a bit beyond a joke now and as a local authority, they really should have a process in place for this sort of thing.

Go for it send the email - you are right if you work for the local authority they should be able to sort this perfectly easily!

I am now 26 weeks pg and have prompted them again - Hr are saying they are waiting on information from my 'managers' (who exactly they are asking I am not sure) about my working patterns.
Shall i start ringing round the potential managers they may have contacted to chase them to reply to HR? This is complicated by the fact that I have never met or spoken to my official line manager and in fact until two weeks ago I did not even know who my line manager was. The managers I do work with have said in the past it is nothing to do with them as they do not deal with HR issues and are not my line manager.
I have sent HR another email explaining my working patterns myself and which managers I work with. I have also now said that I would go back after 3 months, as I know it would take longer than that to recruit a new person with CRB checks etc. What argument could there be for not letting me have a few months off without pay? I just cannot understand how they can leave me hanging for this long
Unfortunately for me I am now desperate to keep the job as it is increasingly unlikely I will be able to return to my job in the week, due to childcare costs. This whole situation is making me really stressed as financially I don't know how we will survive without this bit of (albeit pitiful)income.
Any HR people, do I have any other cards to play?

Just to add a quick message to say after my last post this has been resolved and i have been given maternity leave.