How long did you/will you take for Mat Leave?

[Apfel]

Dear All,

good morning! I'm newly pregnant (EDD 1st April) and am trying to be all organised and as prepared as I can be!

I work full time in an office environment, and plan to return to work (albeit initially part-time) after the birth. There is the provision for 12 months of combination paid/unpaid maternity leave from my employer.

I'm currently vacillating between applying for the standard 12 months of leave and applying for 18 months (12 months mat leave, 6 months leave without pay). We aren't OVERLY well off, but this is doable financially, so I'm trying not to let $$ dictate this too much.

I know I want to breastfeed for at least the first 12 months (if it all works as it should!), and don't want to hurry to ween because leave is coming to an end.

I would love to hear from other working mums.. how you came to the amount of leave you took (work dictated or your personal decision) and how you felt about it.

For those mums to be - what are you leaning towards?

Thanks!

[Happy2be3]

I took 18 months off all together, 12 months was official maternity leave, then I quit cause I didnt want to go back to where I worked. We moved interstate, I went back to retail just on weekends when DS was 18 months - reason - sanity.. I was bored and crazy at home with no conversation with people outside my close group :)

[Apfel]

Thanks for that! I've heard a few mums say they got back in to work for their own mental health :D

(edit - bad spelling!)

[MyLittlePrincess]

leave with both of my kids was 12 months maternity leave.

with my 1st bub i worked full time- basically till the time she was born (8hrs later after i started maternity leave!) and returned to work 7 months later- still b/f full time; she was never formula feed. but went back to work part-time of 24hrs per week.

with 2nd bub i returned back when bubs was 8 months still currently b/f, still on a part time basis with the same employer.

work just gives me a little break from the kids, and work has also given me shift that i am happy to contuine to work with, if not i wouldnt be there!

[Apfel]

Thanks! Wow, working up until the date - that is impressive! I'm hoping I can still be at work comfortably up to 34 weeks, will just work out better that way at work, but ultimately will be guided by how things progress.

Hooray for supportive workplaces! I'm not too sure how this one will be - I'm in a small area of a very large workforce. The organisation itself seems very family-friendly and I know other mums who have been supported in part time returning to work, but on the other hand the area I'm in hasn't had a new mum on the workforce in over 15 years!! Should be interesting.

[kas3]

I worked full-time up to 36 weeks. DS was born at 38 weeks.

I returned to work a week before DS's first birthday. (Twelve months leave all up - 20 weeks paid maternity leave, which I was able to split over 40 weeks, then six weeks rec leave which I split over 12 weeks.)

I returned to work 22 hours a week (three full days).

DS started going to daycare one day a week when he was about 10 months. In hindsight, he probably wasn't quite ready. But it only took a few months before he settled in, and he wasn't terribly upset, just a bit clingy/grizzly at drop off/pick up time.

With this next bubba (due in October), my plan is to work up until 36 weeks again. I will also be taking another twelve months - this time it will be 26 weeks of paid maternity leave (at my part-time wage) and the rest will be long service leave. (I've been with my employer for over ten years now.)

I've been very lucky leave-wise - I know a lot of ppl don't have this available to them. But I'm REALLY going to miss work for the twelve-months. I found it very hard being a SAHM and the days I work are like a 'break' for me. Love my son, but he can be fairly full-on.

[Apfel]

Thanks Kas, very helpful!

I'll be going down the family day-care route as well. At the moment I'm thinking (*disclaimer - this is all down the track, so may change :D) that I'll go back part time perhaps earlier than the 18 months, but keep that as my final return date in case I do wish to stay away that long.

I know it's all a case of wait-and-see what happens (so many variables in birth and with a child), but I'm trying to be proactive and sort it all out as much as possible!

[noskie]

with DD i went back to work 2 days a week after 3 months off, more for my own sanity than financial reasons at the time.

This time around i am the primary earner, DH is a SAHD, but where i am working now has 8 weeks paid maternity leave, so i have put in for 12 weeks leave atm (3 weeks of annual leave as well). We will see how we go financially during this time and I may be able to take some more time off :)

I am booked in for a cs 4 weeks from tomorrow, and was originally working for another 2 weeks after this one, but am hoping to finish up the end of next week, im so :sleeping: lol

[RmumR]

With my DD i worked full-time up to 38weeks then took 12mths maternity leave but ended up moving in between so started a new job when she was 18mths part-time - worked out really well and she was a good age to start child care and want to interact and play with other kids.

this time i am 24wks and finished work this week as am suffering from severe morning sickness as of 6wks so not able to work any longer as its not in the best interests of mine and bubs health at this stage. totally unexpected so has thrown my original maternity leave plans out the window!

[2girls&1angelboy]

Im due March 3rd i hope to work to 36-38 weeks then have between 6-12mths off.
My babies are prone to being early so going to try and get as far as i can.

[MsMummy]

I did about 1 day from 3.5 weeks, 3 days from 3 months, and 4 days from about 9 months (to current, which is 22 months).

After almost two years of this, I have concluded that my ideal situation would be 12 months off, and then part time (2-3 days a week) as not to lose skills.

My son was fully breastfed until he was about 17 months. He is still breastfed, except for about 200mL of formula per day for the four days I work.

Expressing is a pain though, and I found I could never quite express enough, so I'd have to express after feeds when I was at home. Plus it's quite time consuming, and can be awkward. I have an office with a door, so it wasn't too bad for me.

I suppose I feel like I've missed some rite of passage of going to all the playgroups and having that freedom.

I also miss my son terribly sometimes.

After my experience, we are deferring having another baby until my partner is established in his new career (he has been a full time student for the last 4 years).

I think you'll be okay as long as you leave your options open. Try not to commit to going back to work until after you have had the baby, or see if you can negotiate some part time or flexible work.

The plus side is that my son has a terrific bond with his dad, as he his home more than me. Unfortunately, one parent always seems to miss out.

[missie_mack]

I did full time shift work up to 34 weeks with DS and took 2 years parental leave. I am on an agreement to work 3 set days a week on set hours until 2012 when DS should start school :)

Before having DS I thought I would be begging to be back at work within 6 months (as did most people at work :p) but I ended up taking the full two years and wasn't confident going back even. I was lucky I did too as until DS was over 2 I couldn't get all 3 days in childcare :eek: My Dh actually had to take one day off a week to care for him until he was two (which was just on 2 months as DS arrived late)

[Apfel]

I think you'll be okay as long as you leave your options open. Try not to commit to going back to work until after you have had the baby, or see if you can negotiate some part time or flexible work.

Thanks for your advice, and for sharing your experience, I really appreciate it!


I did full time shift work up to 34 weeks with DS and took 2 years parental leave. I am on an agreement to work 3 set days a week on set hours until 2012 when DS should start school :)

Wow! That sounds like a pretty amazing arrangement.. how long were you on fulltime leave before the 3 days kicked in?

[fireflies4]

Hi I am booked in to finish work at 34weeks pregnant and am booked to return to work part time start of July 2011. Whether I will actually go back or not may change.

So I will have 9 and a half months off. I'd like to take the full 12months but depending on finances that may not be possible.