Self Employed ?? How much Maternity leave do u envisage taking ?

[Mum23boys]

I know its hard to tell how we will feel at 30-35-40 weeks pregnant and might be hard to tell but how long do u THINK you might take off ?

With my ds2 nd ds3 i worked till the day i went into labour and was back 3 weeks later. This time i really NEED to do the same as have new families here BUT I would sooooooo LOVE to take longer like 8 weeks or something - 2 weeks before and 6 weeks after.

I just hate letting people down :-( I feel like I need to be super woman to keep everyone happy.

[dloui128]

I work right up until I go into labor, I am still working right now. After I have the baby I take 6 weeks paid disability and then 6 weeks unpaid. Everyone is different though, you just have to see how you feel. I think the majority of us moms feel like we need to be super woman all the time lol, we should start a support group

[Mum23boys]

Well if the new patent gives me notice I'll be taking 12-16 weeks off as I know my other parents won't mind :-)

[Mum23boys]

Any other self employed people out there not taking much time off ?

[Mrs_P]

Hey hunny not self-employed myself (as you know) but don't you qualify for maternity leave and pay similar to statutory maternity pay if your self employed over here (or is that not enough for you to take a while off).

I suppose its different when you work from home as well as your not having to leave your baby but how did you feel after Liam was born. I know i struggled a lot last time round although not too sure why (although my health wasn't brilliant and then i had all the trouble i had with the boys) although with both of the others i coped fine.

Will Liam start school next year too, if so then how many will you have to look after in addition to the baby

[Mommyof3boys]

I have always worked until the baby was born. I only took 4 weeks off with my first, but my mom was going to be watching him so I didn't have to leave him with a stranger. I took 6 weeks with the other 2 but I worked in an infant room at a high quality child care center and they were in the room with me. This time I have a different job and do not have family to watch the new baby and the cost of child are for 4 kids is outrageous so my plan is to stop working altogether and if we struggle financially I might babysit one or two children.

[Mum23boys]

Hey hunny not self-employed myself (as you know) but don't you qualify for maternity leave and pay similar to statutory maternity pay if your self employed over here (or is that not enough for you to take a while off).

I suppose its different when you work from home as well as your not having to leave your baby but how did you feel after Liam was born. I know i struggled a lot last time round although not too sure why (although my health wasn't brilliant and then i had all the trouble i had with the boys) although with both of the others i coped fine.

Will Liam start school next year too, if so then how many will you have to look after in addition to the baby

Well we need me to earn atleast 1200 a month to cover some of our outgoings and maternity pay ( for self employed ) is about 100 a week so id need to have 700 -800 a month saved up for every month i want to be off so if i want 2 months off i need 1400 pound and so on. We cant take a mortgage break or anything unfortunately otherwise that would allow a month off without worry.

I have 4 under 5 and then 2 5-6 year olds and 3 8+ year olds.
In septemeber Liam will start school part time so i will have at home:

Baby
Child A 7AM-1PM mon-Fri - will be aged 2.5 years when bubs arrives
Child B 7.30am-5.30pm Mon - Fri - will be 3 when bubs arrives
Child C 7.30am - 5.30pm Mon - Fri - will be 15 Months when bubs arrives

Then i will have Liam, Ellis, Owen, Children D,E, AND F from 3pm-6pm so from 3pm it will be a bit manic with 9+ kids to feed but to be honest it goes fairly quick and they will all help with the baby im sure.

The day time with 4 under 3 will be interesting but to be fair the childminded children are all so well behaved so i think im worrying for nothing - they will all still have rest time if not a sleep so i will get half hour to sit down for cuddles in the morning / after lunch

[Jadis]

I'm self employed but, fortunately, I was placed on payroll at one of my contracts. This means that I MAY or MAY NOT qualify for mat leave depending on my hours. Here in Canada, we are required to work a minimum of 600 hours (in my region) to get EI payments during a full year off. I'm willing to work around the clock right up to the birth of my baby to gain the hours I need but if there's no work being offered to me, I'm out of luck. To be honest, I'm stressed right out about finances and I feel desperate to qualify. If I don't, I think I'll consider myself a stay at home mom for a few years. I'll likely take jobs in the evenings or on occassional weekends just to bring in a bit extra. It would certainly mean tightening our belts around here. We're used to our take-outs and treats

[Mum23boys]

The time is getting close to tell my minded mums .... im planning on telling them the day after our scan (a thursday ) then ill send letters home about it on the friday so they have the weekend to think about it -Im planning to take from the end of July when the schools break up to the beginning of sept off so about 5 weeks but may put longer on my letter to cover my self so from mid july - mid sept. I am saving slowly and think i will have enough money to atleast be off 8 maybe even 12 weeks if i want to be