Anybody had 3 lots of year long mat leave fairly close together?

[Tyme]

We may possibly try for a 3rd (I would love to, dh needs convincing )

If we do, that would mean a 3rd leave of maternity for a year in since 2005.
I feel a bit guilty about this especially as I feel I'm valued by my colleagues and manager who really backed me up when I asked to return part time.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

Bumping for all those coming back from work.

yup

Care to share?
Why are you ?

How did you feel? How did work react?

You shouldn't feel guilty, although it's nice that you do, IYSWIM.

You are legally entitled to go on repeated maternity leaves.

That said, I am an employer in an industry that traditionally employs mainly (and in our case only) women of child-bearing age. And before anyone comes out with the 'if a business can't absorb maternity leave then it's not a viable business' line - last year we had a quarter of our employees on maternity leave. We only (for obvious reasons) pay SMP but it is still a headache to cover maternity leave in an industry like ours (childcare) where strict staffing ratios need to be adhered to.

If you are valued I'm sure it won't be a problem (not that it can, legally) My advice is to be upfront and let your colleagues and manager know that your baby days aren't done, yet.

DH says I shouldn't be at all since I'm breeding the taxpayers who'll pay everyone's pension . And tbh I don't feel too bad - since I'm rapidly becoming an 'old timer' in the office - m y not breeding friends have almost all moved jobs in the same timeframe, which imo is more disruptive since there's less notice, issues of 'working for the competition' and no prospect of return.

Work were very good about it, It helped that my skills seemed to become more valuable ot them as time went on. They were very busy and shortstaffed when I came back from Ds2. Since I knew the ropes, i could hit the ground running. When I annouced Dc3, they had a glass half full attitude of 'let's get what we can out of ou over next 7 months'. Tbh, they were struggling to recruit, so a temporary worker who knew the ropes was no bad thing. My employer is large, and has frequent internal staff rotation anyway, so always people coming and going anyhow.

I don't think its something to be embarassed about and your dh is right, although a part of me would feel embarassed too. Its a shame we're made to feel like that.

I know I have the right and I do work for a large employer but I still can't help feeling a bit guilty about it.

I guess I'll just cross that bridge and when I come to it.