When's the best time to start maternity leave? (UK)
Hey guys. So I have to provide a date to start mat leave and I didn't want it to be too early, nor too late. I have a WFH job which doesn't come with a huge amount of stress, my employer is really supportive. My pregnancy has also been fairly easy, no sickness, just a little bit of fatigue. I was thinking of starting mat leave 3 weeks prior to my EDD, is that too early / late given the circumstances? Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any advice greatly welcomed. Thank you
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If you enjoy your job just do it until you’re probably 36 weeks or until you feel fit. I have applied for leave when I’m 29 weeks as my job is too physically demanding and it’s a shit job so it’s with what you’re comfortable with x
I have a mostly WFH job which I loved. I planned to finish two weeks before but ended up having to be induced 2 weeks early so only finished 4working days before. I was feeling fit and well enough to work and am now so pleased I went so close to my date as I can now have longer off with my baby
I was mostly in the office so started mine 4 weeks before my EDD. Definitely would've delayed it a bit if work was a bit more lenient with letting me WFH more in the last couple of weeks though as it was the commute that was killing me - probs to 2 weeks before to have a bit more time with our LO at the other side but ah well! I'm currently 10 days out from my EDD and still feeling fine, but feel like I'm defo an outlier 😅
what job do you do? I want to do a WFH job but can’t find any x
I work for the county council. My base is county hall in west bridgford but I'm not required to go there.
I was similar to you - worked from home, fairly easy pregnancy. I started my maternity leave on my due date and took a week's holiday before that. So started leave a week before due date.
2 weeks before is usually a nice point if your job isn't physically demanding. A lot of first babies are late so you don't want to be sat doing nothing for more than a few weeks
I worked up until 39 weeks and then went on mat leave. I did use a week of annual leave just before my mat leave started, went into labour early and gave birth on my last day of annual leave so my first full day with baby was my first day of mat leave. I timed it well 🤣🤣
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