Im pregnant! and want to know how much maternity leave you had

[kel's25]

Hi guys,

just had my 12 wk scan and all is ok yeah! I just wanted to know a few things really.
how much maternity leave did you have, if you changed where or how you work i.e started working from home, gave up salon etc.

I rent a space above a hairdressers at the moment but wont keep the space after the baby is born, so i was thinking of working from home.
My hubby is miltary so might not always be around to look after the little one and wonder if i could still do treatments (worried cos of baby crying and being unprofessional)

what did you do and your thoughts and feelings about any of this

thanks in advance
xx

 

[Zo Zo]

Because you are self-employed, it is entirely up to you how much maternity leave you take. I am 29 weeks and planning on continuing to work until I don't feel I can anymore, but in reality what will probably happen is that I will gradually cut down from seven or so clients per day to two and then one! And then none :lol:

You may be entitled to maternity pay from the government. From memory and I haven't checked, I think it is about £123 pw for up to 39 weeks.

With regard to working from home after the baby is born, I am honestly not sure this would work, if no-one is there to look after the baby. If the baby gets into a regular routine with feeds and sleeps you might be able to get away with doing some short treatments but tbh you can't count on it, as babies are very unpredictable. Also, don't underestimate how tired you might be!

If you want to work, I would recommend you consider using childcare, whether this is a nanny, or childminder or a nursery.

Congratulations! And Good Luck :hug:

 

[kel's25]

Thanks for your reply congratulations to you too!

I did think it would be near on impossible to work from home without any help, just thought someone might have a mircle cure lol!

i think i will give up work at xmas and go on maternity leave and play it by ear see how i feel with everything

xxx

 

[kel's25]

come on surely more of you have been pregnant than this?

 

[Saddlesore]

Congratulations hun :hug:

I would organise some childcare for when you have clients...you dont want to be worrying about the baby when carrying out your services its not fair on you or your client.If your not relaxed and enjoying the session then its likely the client isnt either.

If you cant find childcare for the evenings (hubs isnt around) what about weekend working?I find grandparents are always up for a weekend slot of kid fun

Im mobile and visit my clients in the evenings during the week,hubs is back from the office to take over but Im looking for a weekend spot in a salon too to help.

Anyways I wish you well sweetie and congrats again xxxxxx

 

[kel's25]

my mum would love to have my baby and i love the idea but unfortunatly i live 3 hours away from any family.

so cant use that as an option so think child care is the only way for me. although im in the process of learning to drive so that will be a god send in more way than one

thanks for your reply xx

 

[bombini]

I worked until I was about 36 weeks pregnant and it nearly killed me ! My plan was to have 8 weeks off then go back to renting a room. This idea worked for me as the salon owner was willing to let me rent part time and my partner was available until around 2pm everyday and then nursery was to be arranged when my baby old enough.

My heart was never really in it to go back to work and I felt under pressure from the salon owner and my clients to go back at 8 weeks. I have no idea how I managed it as I was exhausted. My baby was a terrible sleeper (didn't start reguarly sleeping through until 10 1/2 months) so having to get up 3/4 times a night to feed him then go to work was awful. I breastfed to so had to be home at the right times for feeding and I had to do the nightshifts so I really should not have gone back to the salon.

In the end I decided to work from home. I have only done one client without childcare and it was not ideal, infact I can't imagine my insurance would of been valid had anything happened! I still work from home on days my son is at nursery or if my partner is at home to look after him.

Congratulations