When to start maternity leave?

[claribelou]

I know it's a decision only I can take but looking for views about when to start my maternity leave.

Currently 20 weeks so have to let work know in 5 weeks (is that right?).

I work in a busy hospital and the job involves quite a lot of work on my feet; but my team have been very supportive about flexible hours to miss rush hour commutes etc.

At the moment I'm finding work tiring but manageable except on the days where I have migraines - then I just need to take the whole day off as sick leave.

But I'm finding it difficult to predict how I'll feel as I get bigger. Some of my colleagues who do similar jobs just took 4 weeks off before their EDD, but they seem to have had smoother pregnancies than I have had so far.

What did you all do / what are you planning on doing? How did you make your decisions?

I worked until 38 weeks but didnt have to stand for long periods of time. I preferred more time after than before.

Im on my feet a lot at work. I originally planed to take holiday then maternity leave from 35 weeks, but then changed it to 32.

In the end I ended up on the sick from about 26/27 weeks, because I really couldn't cope anymore. So in a way I wished I had kept to the original plan because I would have had longer off after the baby was born and I would have had to finish at the same time anyway.

I used my annual leave to have 4 weeks off before my EDD. I was on my feet all day in a lab. At 34 weeks my legs swelled and my feet were really uncomfy squeezed into my shoes (despite full length comp stockings)
Baby came at 38 weeks so i only got two weeks to tidy rest and catch up with friends before the baby came. BF is very time consuming so its nice to have everything sorted.

I think it was really important to have that time to just wind down and mentally prepare for your 'new life'

Thanks for your experiences, helps me in my own thinking x

i would say tell your employer that you will be taking ml from 4 weeks before. I did this on the basis that this is the point from which you can be made to start ml if you are ill.

You can always change your mind later, or if you are ill then at least you can claim it as sick leave.

Do you have any leave to use? I'm finishing at 30 weeks ish to take leave then mat leave from 2 weeks before. My job isn't as physical as yours but it's more difficult to keep safe& I also do a lot of driving which I know gets harder.

I saved up my holiday and took the last four weeks (weeks 36-40), then started my mat leave on my due date. I had a problem free pregnancy and didn't have to stand much so was fairly lucky in that respect.

I work in NHS and finish this week at 35 weeks but am taking the rest of this years annual leave so my actual mat leave does not start until week baby is due.

If I was not planning to go now I would be seriously considering bringing it forward as am shattered all of a sudden.