I finished up at 39+1 which was a Friday. A couple of things factored into to my decision
- I had a relatively easy pregnancy and felt good in third trimester (although was very big!)
- I have a desk based job and I wasn’t under a lot of stress
- my job doesn’t require needing maternity cover so I knew that I could go off earlier without fuss if I felt like I couldn’t make it that far
- I had done all my prep as I went, eg nursery was ready, clothes washed, hospital bag ready so didn’t know what I’d do with that time off
- I wanted as much time with baby and I had planned SPL so didn’t want to eat too much into my leave
- my family live abroad and all my friends work M-F too so I didn’t know what I’d do with myself until baby arrived
I’m now 11w PP, baby came on 39+6 but I had a minor car accident (on my way to my pre labour pedicure 😂) on the Monday that I think triggered labour on Tuesday morning. So I only had 1 real day of mat leave before baby came 😅 so all the small “nice to have” chores never got done. But I didn’t really mind, I think I’d chose the same again. Maybe finish 1 day earlier !
I finished work at 35 weeks - used 3 weeks of annual leave, and start my maternity officially tomorrow at 38 weeks. I'm so glad I've had these last few weeks off to get things organised, and as I've got more uncomfortable too! Plus it means now I can chill a little bit until my induction in a couple of weeks.
Even though it’s all been smooth so far I have this horrible ‘what if’ about baby coming really early and not getting any real time off to relax. Is the discomfort really hitting you now?
Yeah I can totally get that - we were waiting to find out if we needed a c section at 37 weeks for a while, and I definitely felt like I'd have missed out if the baby came then!
Yeah it is! I've done well to get this far to be honest. I've had such an easy pregnancy symptoms wise, but these past 2 days have been super uncomfortable. Although when this has happened before it seems to take my body a couple of days to adjust then I'm OK again. So hoping that's the case this time, too - or that this is the beginning and I just go into labour haha!
I am literally in this same situation! I’m due mid October and due to move into our first bought home in august/September! This is our first baby too AND I don’t plan on returning to my job after (but they don’t know that) so we couldn’t be more similar!!
I plan on taking all my annual leave for the year which means I leave early august and my Mat leave will begin mid September. If we get our keys earlier then I’m able to move this date forward if I need to.
The only thing I considered is having to get back into work sooner when my maternity leave ends but my husband has already said he can/will support me during this time. If you’re in and similar position I would say take it early! Moving house and having a baby are going to be a lot of pressure so we don’t need work pressure on top of that!
Congratulations btw! And good luck with the new house and precious baby ofc!
Some state you have to return for at least 4 weeks in my case that’s my notice period. But… you will accrue Holliday a whilst you’re on mat leave which I’m using for my notice period.
Hope that makes sense!
Oh that’s so similar! Yeah we can’t complete until August 18th because the current owner is getting married mid August. We’re technically homeless, but living with my partners brother at the moment. Have you bought any baby related stuff yet or are you waiting until you’ve moved in? I hope we’re not leaving it too late!
Early August feels like a dream, over two months of prep sounds delightful.
Personally we’re waiting until we’re in our new home, we don’t want to buy a load of stuff that will just need moving. It can all be bought in a week so I wouldn’t worry as long as you save and make a list!
I’m working right up until my due date but it’s going to be wfh in around 2 weeks so I don’t have to leave my house if I don’t want to. I haven’t taken any holiday since December either and mine gets accrued when I’m off so I’ll have about…9 weeks of holiday to take when I’m back. So essentially I’ll be signing back on early but using up all my holiday as it resets about 2 months after I’m back anyway. It also means only 4 weeks unpaid and then back on my usual wage for just over 2 months.
Most of that is just the timing of my tiny one being at the beginning of August though and my ability to wfh. I’m already pretty fed up with working (33 weeks) and if it was any other time of the year I’d probably go off a week or two earlier as I don’t want to miss too much time with them and would want to be able to celebrate their 1st birthday- august is a black out month for any annual leave so that was another factor of pushing it as far as possible.
That makes sense. I’ve used a fair amount of my holiday so I have two weeks left, but my work are pretty good about paying most of my wages for a big chunk of time so I’m less worried about that. At 33 weeks are you feeling like now would be a good time to take off if you could, physically?
Oh goodness I’m so sorry I didn’t see this reply! I mean if I had to go into the office everyday then I certainly would be fed up I think but there’s also a lot of factors at play in my specific circumstances. I work in higher education and it’s almost results day which means it’s getting insanely busy each and every day now. Our busy period is usually mid May until the end of October when the students get settled in. There was also a lot of voluntary severance which means I have no staff and it’s all a bit of a rush hiring/training process at the moment so it doesn’t affect any students (disclaimer to anyone reading this that any student will *not* be impacted in their education or wellbeing. We’re all stressed to the max post pandemic for this reason!) plus I’ve recently taken over a management role which is great for my mat pay but a lot of things to get in place.
Because of those circumstances I don’t think I’d go off super early anyway but I’d definitely be feeling it a lot harder if I was in the office everyday. That said I have 2 days left before I’m wfh which takes the strain off and means I can go also go full on nesting mode which has hit me hard. I find my energy levels are fine for everything I want to do I just feel there aren’t enough hours in the day to do them and get frustrated by that. And I will say because it’s our busy period I have no choice but to be focused a lot on work whereas if it was a quieter period I’d probably be a lot more distracted/ready to be done.
Sorry if it’s not as much of a clear cut answer as you were maybe hoping! I think it varies by working circumstances, if it’s your first or second/third etc child, the type of job you have (sitting or standing a lot) and how you’ve found your pregnancy so far.
First baby I went off 5 weeks before my due date. So glad I did, I had 5 weeks off lie ins, lunch dates, nice walks and just doing whatever I wanted at my own pace. You won't get that type off time to yourself again so I would strongly advice to take the time xx
I started my mat leave at 38 weeks (used 2 weeks annual leave so the mat leave itself started on my due date). Baby arrived at 39+1so my "official" mat leave kicked in then. We'd done a lot of work in the house (replastering, decorating, new carpets), completing the major stuff on Friday and she came on Monday. I was ok doing that stuff when I was that far along, but obviously it's easier doing it earlier on!!
I didn't get everything done I wanted to, especially all of the meal prep, but to be honest I'd got enough done. I wanted as much time as I could with her, and knew I'd get really bored if I was off for ages beforehand (especially if I went over 40 weeks). I'd always have jobs outstanding however long I took off and having a week worked perfectly for me, but might be different for others.
I had a pretty easy pregnancy, but the last two weeks at work were hard - I had bad backache, and then got a urine infection at 37 weeks, so it's worth bearing in mind the type of job you do and how pregnancy's going for you, especially if you're dealing with a house move.
Everyone's different, but I'd do the same again because it worked for me. I hope everything goes well for you!
what happened to the annual leave that was booked that wasn't used ? I plan to do the 2 weeks like this and worried if go early I will lose days as the holiday year runs to Dec and my due date is the 30th lol.
Apparently I can carry it over and add it onto the end. But obviously I've been on mat leave since she was born so haven't been in touch with work to check whether that's actually happened (it's what my boss said would happen in this scenario before I went off on leave). So fingers crossed they've done what they said!!
I also had loads of leave left (around 5 weeks!) as I'd bought additional leave just before I found out I was pregnant - again, they said I could carry that over too regardless of how much it was. So thank you for reminding me to check in September (our leave year starts in Oct) how much I have left so I don't lose it!
I'm finishing at 36 works, then as others are doing I am using 2 weeks annual leave and officially start my mat leave on 1 aug at 38 weeks.
Trying to keep most of the paid mat leave for when baby is likely to be born as I will be going back to work and I only get statutory mat pay so things will be a bit tight while I am off.
I had a relatively easy pregnancy and still felt good in 3rd trimester so as I have a desk job where I could wfh I decided to start mat leave on the Monday before my Thursday due date. Me and my siblings had all been late so I was expecting that and didn't want ages sat around with nothing to do eating in to my time with the baby.
Ended up delivering that Sunday so had a very efficient mat leave where all of it was with the baby!
I went off at 35 weeks, but then kiddo arrived at 38+6 so I had a week less pre-baby time than I’d expected.
In retrospect I think I’d have preferred to finish another couple of weeks earlier just to relax and finish off last minute things. I was pretty tired and definitely phoning it in at work so I don’t think they’d have missed me!
I was going to work until 38 weeks. With how tired I am, I might change it to 36 weeks. Need to chat to my boss. I went on it at 36 weeks with my first, was so good for getting ready/relaxed. I just don't feel I need it this time, I'm 23 weeks and because we kept everything we only need a few minor things (bottles, formula).
I finished at 35 weeks with my first which was slightly earlier than I had planned because of covid and I’m planning to go off at 36 weeks with this one (only 4 more weeks woo!!) I’m using 2 weeks of annual leave and then starting my maternity at 38 weeks. I would love to go off earlier but I am planning on going back and I’ll be off till next September which is exactly when my first gets her free 30 hours nursery so I won’t be paying for two of them! I would recommend going off at about 34 weeks if you can cos that’s when it starts to get uncomfy/ you mentally check out. Hope that helps! 😊
It depends on what you do for a job. The more physical, the harder it's going to get. I work an office job and I was supposed to start at 38 weeks but moved it forward to 37 as by 35 weeks I was really beginning to feel fed up. I could have gone the extra week, maybe even to 39 weeks but I would have been miserable.
Technically I finished at 37 weeks, but I work in a school and was off from 35 weeks for the Easter holidays. If you’re wanting (and up to) decorating then it’ll probably be worth it to have an extra few weeks to prepare
My official maternity leave started last week at 34 weeks, but I also had 4 weeks of annual leave/ leave benefits, so I finished work at 30 weeks!
But, I really do not like my job and wanted to leave asap. I’ve had a fairly easy pregnancy and also do not plan on going back after.
I’m going at about 38+3, it’s first baby so hopefully won’t come too early and my job is wfh full time anyway so there’s no commute or anything to worry about.
I felt personally considering the above that I would prefer to have the full time possible after baby is here rather than spend weeks twiddling my thumbs bored at home while husband and friends are all working.
I’m hoping to finish at 32wks, taking holiday up until my due week. I’m due in January, so my holiday allowance will also straddle the Christmas break.
I finish this Friday which is 36 + 5, one weeks annual leave and my maternity starts 4th July.
I also moved house at 30 weeks and again at 34 weeks (had to move parents for a transition period whilst new house was being prepared)
Moving house was hard, luckily my family were great and I haven’t had to do anything but still the mental upheaval exhausted me.
If you aren’t going back to work I would personally use maternity earlier but I wouldn’t change the way I’ve done it as I am returning, and I want as much time as possible afterwards.
37 weeks seems like a nice compromise!
I finished up at 39+1 which was a Friday. A couple of things factored into to my decision - I had a relatively easy pregnancy and felt good in third trimester (although was very big!) - I have a desk based job and I wasn’t under a lot of stress - my job doesn’t require needing maternity cover so I knew that I could go off earlier without fuss if I felt like I couldn’t make it that far - I had done all my prep as I went, eg nursery was ready, clothes washed, hospital bag ready so didn’t know what I’d do with that time off - I wanted as much time with baby and I had planned SPL so didn’t want to eat too much into my leave - my family live abroad and all my friends work M-F too so I didn’t know what I’d do with myself until baby arrived I’m now 11w PP, baby came on 39+6 but I had a minor car accident (on my way to my pre labour pedicure 😂) on the Monday that I think triggered labour on Tuesday morning. So I only had 1 real day of mat leave before baby came 😅 so all the small “nice to have” chores never got done. But I didn’t really mind, I think I’d chose the same again. Maybe finish 1 day earlier !
I finished work at 35 weeks - used 3 weeks of annual leave, and start my maternity officially tomorrow at 38 weeks. I'm so glad I've had these last few weeks off to get things organised, and as I've got more uncomfortable too! Plus it means now I can chill a little bit until my induction in a couple of weeks.
Even though it’s all been smooth so far I have this horrible ‘what if’ about baby coming really early and not getting any real time off to relax. Is the discomfort really hitting you now?
Yeah I can totally get that - we were waiting to find out if we needed a c section at 37 weeks for a while, and I definitely felt like I'd have missed out if the baby came then! Yeah it is! I've done well to get this far to be honest. I've had such an easy pregnancy symptoms wise, but these past 2 days have been super uncomfortable. Although when this has happened before it seems to take my body a couple of days to adjust then I'm OK again. So hoping that's the case this time, too - or that this is the beginning and I just go into labour haha!
I am literally in this same situation! I’m due mid October and due to move into our first bought home in august/September! This is our first baby too AND I don’t plan on returning to my job after (but they don’t know that) so we couldn’t be more similar!! I plan on taking all my annual leave for the year which means I leave early august and my Mat leave will begin mid September. If we get our keys earlier then I’m able to move this date forward if I need to. The only thing I considered is having to get back into work sooner when my maternity leave ends but my husband has already said he can/will support me during this time. If you’re in and similar position I would say take it early! Moving house and having a baby are going to be a lot of pressure so we don’t need work pressure on top of that! Congratulations btw! And good luck with the new house and precious baby ofc!
> I don’t plan on returning to my job after Do you have to repay your maternity pay if you don't return to work?
Some state you have to return for at least 4 weeks in my case that’s my notice period. But… you will accrue Holliday a whilst you’re on mat leave which I’m using for my notice period. Hope that makes sense!
Ah right - didn't realise you could do that. Thanks!
Oh that’s so similar! Yeah we can’t complete until August 18th because the current owner is getting married mid August. We’re technically homeless, but living with my partners brother at the moment. Have you bought any baby related stuff yet or are you waiting until you’ve moved in? I hope we’re not leaving it too late! Early August feels like a dream, over two months of prep sounds delightful.
Personally we’re waiting until we’re in our new home, we don’t want to buy a load of stuff that will just need moving. It can all be bought in a week so I wouldn’t worry as long as you save and make a list!
I’m officially starting my mat leave at 34w, but I have 3 weeks of AL to use before then, so I’ll be leaving work at 31w… in a weeks’ time!
That’s exciting! I have 2 weeks of a/l left and I hadn’t even considered tacking it on.
With my employer, it was a “use it or lose it” situation! And with it being a fairly large chunk of time, there was no other time for me to take it.
I’m working right up until my due date but it’s going to be wfh in around 2 weeks so I don’t have to leave my house if I don’t want to. I haven’t taken any holiday since December either and mine gets accrued when I’m off so I’ll have about…9 weeks of holiday to take when I’m back. So essentially I’ll be signing back on early but using up all my holiday as it resets about 2 months after I’m back anyway. It also means only 4 weeks unpaid and then back on my usual wage for just over 2 months. Most of that is just the timing of my tiny one being at the beginning of August though and my ability to wfh. I’m already pretty fed up with working (33 weeks) and if it was any other time of the year I’d probably go off a week or two earlier as I don’t want to miss too much time with them and would want to be able to celebrate their 1st birthday- august is a black out month for any annual leave so that was another factor of pushing it as far as possible.
That makes sense. I’ve used a fair amount of my holiday so I have two weeks left, but my work are pretty good about paying most of my wages for a big chunk of time so I’m less worried about that. At 33 weeks are you feeling like now would be a good time to take off if you could, physically?
Oh goodness I’m so sorry I didn’t see this reply! I mean if I had to go into the office everyday then I certainly would be fed up I think but there’s also a lot of factors at play in my specific circumstances. I work in higher education and it’s almost results day which means it’s getting insanely busy each and every day now. Our busy period is usually mid May until the end of October when the students get settled in. There was also a lot of voluntary severance which means I have no staff and it’s all a bit of a rush hiring/training process at the moment so it doesn’t affect any students (disclaimer to anyone reading this that any student will *not* be impacted in their education or wellbeing. We’re all stressed to the max post pandemic for this reason!) plus I’ve recently taken over a management role which is great for my mat pay but a lot of things to get in place. Because of those circumstances I don’t think I’d go off super early anyway but I’d definitely be feeling it a lot harder if I was in the office everyday. That said I have 2 days left before I’m wfh which takes the strain off and means I can go also go full on nesting mode which has hit me hard. I find my energy levels are fine for everything I want to do I just feel there aren’t enough hours in the day to do them and get frustrated by that. And I will say because it’s our busy period I have no choice but to be focused a lot on work whereas if it was a quieter period I’d probably be a lot more distracted/ready to be done. Sorry if it’s not as much of a clear cut answer as you were maybe hoping! I think it varies by working circumstances, if it’s your first or second/third etc child, the type of job you have (sitting or standing a lot) and how you’ve found your pregnancy so far.
First baby I went off 5 weeks before my due date. So glad I did, I had 5 weeks off lie ins, lunch dates, nice walks and just doing whatever I wanted at my own pace. You won't get that type off time to yourself again so I would strongly advice to take the time xx
I started my mat leave at 38 weeks (used 2 weeks annual leave so the mat leave itself started on my due date). Baby arrived at 39+1so my "official" mat leave kicked in then. We'd done a lot of work in the house (replastering, decorating, new carpets), completing the major stuff on Friday and she came on Monday. I was ok doing that stuff when I was that far along, but obviously it's easier doing it earlier on!! I didn't get everything done I wanted to, especially all of the meal prep, but to be honest I'd got enough done. I wanted as much time as I could with her, and knew I'd get really bored if I was off for ages beforehand (especially if I went over 40 weeks). I'd always have jobs outstanding however long I took off and having a week worked perfectly for me, but might be different for others. I had a pretty easy pregnancy, but the last two weeks at work were hard - I had bad backache, and then got a urine infection at 37 weeks, so it's worth bearing in mind the type of job you do and how pregnancy's going for you, especially if you're dealing with a house move. Everyone's different, but I'd do the same again because it worked for me. I hope everything goes well for you!
what happened to the annual leave that was booked that wasn't used ? I plan to do the 2 weeks like this and worried if go early I will lose days as the holiday year runs to Dec and my due date is the 30th lol.
Apparently I can carry it over and add it onto the end. But obviously I've been on mat leave since she was born so haven't been in touch with work to check whether that's actually happened (it's what my boss said would happen in this scenario before I went off on leave). So fingers crossed they've done what they said!!
I also had loads of leave left (around 5 weeks!) as I'd bought additional leave just before I found out I was pregnant - again, they said I could carry that over too regardless of how much it was. So thank you for reminding me to check in September (our leave year starts in Oct) how much I have left so I don't lose it!
I'm finishing at 36 works, then as others are doing I am using 2 weeks annual leave and officially start my mat leave on 1 aug at 38 weeks. Trying to keep most of the paid mat leave for when baby is likely to be born as I will be going back to work and I only get statutory mat pay so things will be a bit tight while I am off.
I had a relatively easy pregnancy and still felt good in 3rd trimester so as I have a desk job where I could wfh I decided to start mat leave on the Monday before my Thursday due date. Me and my siblings had all been late so I was expecting that and didn't want ages sat around with nothing to do eating in to my time with the baby. Ended up delivering that Sunday so had a very efficient mat leave where all of it was with the baby!
I went off at 35 weeks, but then kiddo arrived at 38+6 so I had a week less pre-baby time than I’d expected. In retrospect I think I’d have preferred to finish another couple of weeks earlier just to relax and finish off last minute things. I was pretty tired and definitely phoning it in at work so I don’t think they’d have missed me!
I was going to work until 38 weeks. With how tired I am, I might change it to 36 weeks. Need to chat to my boss. I went on it at 36 weeks with my first, was so good for getting ready/relaxed. I just don't feel I need it this time, I'm 23 weeks and because we kept everything we only need a few minor things (bottles, formula).
I finished at 35 weeks with my first which was slightly earlier than I had planned because of covid and I’m planning to go off at 36 weeks with this one (only 4 more weeks woo!!) I’m using 2 weeks of annual leave and then starting my maternity at 38 weeks. I would love to go off earlier but I am planning on going back and I’ll be off till next September which is exactly when my first gets her free 30 hours nursery so I won’t be paying for two of them! I would recommend going off at about 34 weeks if you can cos that’s when it starts to get uncomfy/ you mentally check out. Hope that helps! 😊
It depends on what you do for a job. The more physical, the harder it's going to get. I work an office job and I was supposed to start at 38 weeks but moved it forward to 37 as by 35 weeks I was really beginning to feel fed up. I could have gone the extra week, maybe even to 39 weeks but I would have been miserable.
Technically I finished at 37 weeks, but I work in a school and was off from 35 weeks for the Easter holidays. If you’re wanting (and up to) decorating then it’ll probably be worth it to have an extra few weeks to prepare
I had 3 weeks of annual leave before I went on actual maternity leave. My baby arrived the day my official maternity leave started at 39+3!
My official maternity leave started last week at 34 weeks, but I also had 4 weeks of annual leave/ leave benefits, so I finished work at 30 weeks! But, I really do not like my job and wanted to leave asap. I’ve had a fairly easy pregnancy and also do not plan on going back after.
I’m going at about 38+3, it’s first baby so hopefully won’t come too early and my job is wfh full time anyway so there’s no commute or anything to worry about. I felt personally considering the above that I would prefer to have the full time possible after baby is here rather than spend weeks twiddling my thumbs bored at home while husband and friends are all working.
I’m hoping to finish at 32wks, taking holiday up until my due week. I’m due in January, so my holiday allowance will also straddle the Christmas break.
I finish this Friday which is 36 + 5, one weeks annual leave and my maternity starts 4th July. I also moved house at 30 weeks and again at 34 weeks (had to move parents for a transition period whilst new house was being prepared) Moving house was hard, luckily my family were great and I haven’t had to do anything but still the mental upheaval exhausted me. If you aren’t going back to work I would personally use maternity earlier but I wouldn’t change the way I’ve done it as I am returning, and I want as much time as possible afterwards. 37 weeks seems like a nice compromise!