I am due 20/02, I am finishing fri 23/01, 2 wk hol, then starting official ML on mon 09/02.

I am taking a full year off, i will then have 15 days hol left, so i have asked for these to be taken at the end of my mat pay, which will be in nov so in effect i get paid in nov, so instead of 13 weeks with no money, its 10 wk with no money.

Depends on each employer i think.

xx

you can inform them any time up to the start of the 15th week before baby is due and start your leave after 11 weeks before baby is due so you still have a while to think about how you wanna work things esp as its your first and you have no idea how you might feel later on, your employer might wanna know sooner rather than later but as long as you stick within the above dates then you are within the law and within your rights, of course your company may have different rules but i don;t think they can vary too much from the statutory ones, as you say you can change the dates you give but you have to give 28 days notice which would probably be awkward, of course in the unfortunate event that you had any pregnancy related sickness later on there is a cut off date after which i think your employer can insist that your ML starts from then but thats only for a pregnancy related illness, only can't remember what timescale that is, i think you should definitely wait a few weeks longer before you make your decision, xxx

Thanks for your reply Apple.

I feel the same as you re making the decision now as I have no idea how big I am going to get or how I am going to feel or whether the doc is going to sign me off or whether baby is going to come early.  Its all too variable to be able to make any decisions but I need to let work know my plans soon and worried that if I make a decision, I can't change it without a stupid amount of notice. 

Crikey, what a conundrum lol

xx

Hi

I think personally its quite a difficult decision to make now.  I am planning on working till the end of January (due 22nd Feb) take the 2 weeks holiday and then start ML.  Then have about 6 months off and save the rest of my holiday for when I'm back at work.

This is my 2nd baby and first time round I planned to finish at a similar time but first off I was so tired with all the travelling that I reduced my hours and then I had a bleed so started ML early.

I will have to wait and see how I feel and then finish according to that.

Thanks for your comments MenMy2.  The thought of driving all through January fills me with horror to be honest and very sorely tempted to do the Option 1 and take last 2 weeks of January as holiday.

I suppose it all depends on what happens with my health, babies health, and whether I can actually fit behind the steering wheel upto 16th Jan LOL. 

xx

With my first i started my ML four weeks before he was due as i thought i would be tired blah blah blah and for me it was a big mistake, baby was a week late so i was completely bored for five weeks between finishing work and having baby, i only lived 5 mins from work so travelling wasn;t an issue for me as it is for you, if you are going to take a years ML then i would start it earlier so you don;t have the stress and struggle of all that travel late on in the preg, good luck, xxx

and when to start ML. 

I can't decide between the following options and would love to hear your opinions:

1) Finish work on Friday 16th Jan, take 2 weeks holiday, and then start ML on 2nd February (EDD 16th).  Advantage: get a full January salary before going onto SMP 

2) Finish work on 16th Jan and start ML/SMP on 19th Jan. Advantage: save my holiday for the end of my ML and take 4 weeks at once

3) Work as long as possible into January and take a view as to how I feel nearer the time

I travel 60 miles to work by car every day which is nasty in January due to weather and I am unsure whether I am coming back afterwards. 

Also I have been warned that I can't extend my ML and that it is better to say I want to take 1 year and then if I decide to a) come back, b) come back early, I can cut my ML short.

All comments, opinions welcome as I really can't decide.  I haven't a clue how I will feel by then as never done this pregnancy thing before lol

xx