Can I get a new job when pregnant

[Marie0001]

Hi all
I have recently handed in my notice as I cannot handle the stress of my job anymore. It's a high pressured role and it was quite simply unbearable and making me unwell.

I am also 8 weeks pregnant - I discovered I was pregnant before handing in my notice but I had a few traumatic miscarriages and was going to hand in my notice anyway, so I continued with the plan to hand in my notice. It also felt like a way to protect the baby and I feel like such a weight has been lifted since I handed in my notice so I do feel it was the right move.

We have just also had a scan which shows a heart beat thank goodness and the baby is measuring correctly, albeit it is early days as my last MC were at 8 and 12 weeks.

I would ideally like to line up a job, however I am aware I won't be entitled to maternity leave, but having other job benefits will likely be beneficial.

We do have savings to last us at least 12 months and my husband is able to basically cover the majority of the outgoings (with not much excess), however I feel I will need to help contribute financially over the next few months.

I am really open to a change of role / pace of life/ part time...

Should I just apply for jobs and see what happens and if anything sticks. If so, do I need to tell them I'm pregnant? Realistically I imagine that would scupper my chances? I'm not showing too much (yet) but I imagine I will be in 1 month.

I'm also thinking about contracting which could work for short periods and possibly tide me over until the pregnancy. Then ideally I can take 6-9 months off on the other side.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Congrats on your pregnancy.

By all means look for jobs now :) no need to tell them until you've got an offer.

You will be entitled to the leave. It's the pay that you won't be entitled to. You should be able to claim maternity allowance though.

I do know someone who contracted during her pregnancy. It worked out well for her too.

No need to tell them yours pregnant at all, it's none of their business. You can guarantee if you told them when you 'get the offer' it would be withdrawn. Pregnancy discrimination happens.
I started a new job 10 weeks pregnant, didn't disclose it, told them after my 12 week scan.
I got all the SMP pay because of my previous job. So I had 9 months leave & the standard maternity pay.
If you go on nhs maternity calculator it works out what you would be entitled too, depending on how long you have worked at your previous job.

Spelling errors! Damn typos.

Thank you so much - this is very helpful. We're you entitled to that because you didn't have a gap in your employment?

Thank you!

@Marie0001 I had a 4 week gap between leaving my old job & working at the new one.
SMP goes off employment/so many weeks worked up until so many weeks pregnant (I forget what this is, so do have a look on the gov.uk website regarding maternity).
It's the government who pay you the SMP (not the workplace (I think they claim it back from them)so your new job is irrelevant to being entitled to maternity leave etc really. How long was you employed for in the job you have just left? As your maternity leave & everything will be dependant upon that.
You have a similar time frame to me, from leaving old work to starting new job in regards to how many weeks pregnant you are. I worked at my last job for around 3.5 years, but it doesn't need to be that long.

I was made redundant at 10 weeks. Personally I decided to temp and then was able to claim maternity allowance. I just didn't want the stress of long term job hunting when I was unsure what my plans would be to return. Also any bad feeling from my employers of not telling them about my pregnancy.

I had also had early losses and wanted temping kept it low stress and flexible. It worked really well for me I had a short term role and then a longer one, I left when I decided. It worked well for me.

Good luck with whatever you decide.