RE: When did you go on maternity leave?

Dove — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 22:46:55 GMT

Congratulations! I went on mat leave at 35 weeks with my first, I'd probably have stayed on a little longer but it tied in with finishing at Christmas. I was looking forward to the last few weeks of rest but she arrival at 37 weeks. I was ready to finish at 35 weeks though, I think I used up my holidays so mat pay didn't kick in straight away.

RE: When did you go on maternity leave?

Tracy Windler RVN — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 22:21:12 GMT

Hi, and congratulations on your pregnancy! I was in a similar situation in my first pregnancy and due to other stresses, I went at 30 weeks. I really took advantage of the time to relax, enjoy my pregnancy and time with my bump. I went to all the classes, watched tonnes of classic films, washed baby clothes and prepared everything. The problem with that was that by the time I had my baby, I was already on statutory maternity pay and by the time my baby was 4 months, I had to go back to work, as I was broke. My second pregnancy, I held out a bit longer, but I did have another nurse working with me by then. I had 3 weeks holiday, so went on leave at 36 weeks and had holiday til 39 weeks. I would advise to have a bit of a balance as it's your first and you can really savour the experience. You will never have that precious time with your bump on your own again x x x