Working from home on Maternity Leave

[CKHussy]

Hi all,

I'm due in September 2009 and to stay off the poverty line it looks like I will have to work from home through most of my maternity leave. If I don't I can't afford my rent, never mind food, bills or clothes for my Bubba. It will mean missing out on SMP in place of a slightly deducted full-time salary - the details are yet to be hammered out.
I am the major bread-winner in the family and my husband will be more than supportive physically and emotionally, but there is only so much he can do financially.
Has anyone else had to cope with this? Can anyone tell me if there's anyway (other than moving in with parents) that I can cover the rent?
Thanks for any advice.

I'm a bit confused about how you'll be working whilst on maternity leave - you can't do more than 10 days while on leave, or you cease to be on maternity leave. Can you give us a few more details please?

You can only work 10 days if you are claiming SMP and since I will be paid as normal, but at a slightly reduced rate I won't be claiming SMP.

But, if you are working throughout,you won't be on maternity leave, just alternative duties/hours?

Is your work the sort that has to be done at fixed times - e.g. client facing or with colleagues? If so, do you have childcare? It will be extremely difficult to work at home without childcare, especially at pre-planned hours, so unless your husband is going to do it, I would try very hard to think of other ways. Is your other half giving up work?

Sorry, I was being confusing wasn't I?! Yes, I guess there will be no leave as such - except for the first month - but after that I will be working from home. My job is based solely working in front of a mac - no client-facing involved, and I can work for 5 mins at a time and then walk away for anything up to an hour. So I think it's possible, I just wanted to know if anyone else had to try this.
We need both salaries to pay the rent and the bills, so my husband will stay in work.

If your job is entirely flexible as you describe, it might be possible to do some work, but I think you must be careful to manage your (and your employer's) expectations as to how much work you will be able to do.

Taking care of a new baby is a full time job, particularly at the beginning when they are not usually in any routine, feeds can easily take an hour, burping can take ages and some babies cry a lot, as well as you being shattered from being up all night and struggling to find time to do things like have a shower, let alone do any work.

You should be able to get a bit done, if you abandon things like housework, cooking, etc. It's just the 'slightly less than full time' that rings alarm bells for me, you may need to start with less and then gradually increase as you get yourself into a routine.

Thank you flowerybeanbag. That's good advice. I'm giving myself a month to trial it, so if it's not working I won't be fooling myself. As for cooking - luckily I have the best cook in the world for a husband, so that's one area I can forget about!