End to end Maternity Leaves

Hi, So, I was wondering if anyone on here has had experience with having maternity leaves close together. Did you take all your types of leave and were you off for ages? Like 2-3 years between one and another. Did you feel work looked down on you for this? Colleagues? Any opinions? Thanks.

oh dear, anyone, help, please? Any experiences, think i'll feel really 'guilty'!

My experience probably would not be that useful, I have had babs in March last year and went on mat leave till end December. I resigned then as I am expecting again, but I was planning on going self-employed anyway, so I suppose it is a different scenario. Also I worked in mostly male company so don't know of any girls that have gone through it either.

I took mat leave in march followed by hols etc, came back to work in Jan and will be gone again in May - probably no help to you but said I would reply anyway.

Thank you girls ... Delish- what kind of reaction did you get from your boss, HR, others in the company- any bit.chiness? Anyone dare make any comments? I just feel like if I go back PG or start TTC straight away, I'll be looked on badly. Can they actually like sack me, make me redundant for being on leave so much? (I know they technically can't but I'm afraid I'll be forced out IYKWIM?)

Technically, no company can sack you for taking maternity leave in succession, but in fairness, they can pass you over for promotions etc in future (and blame other factors), of course they can do that, and I am sure that it happens. I always try to look at things from both sides, and from the company side, well, they have to replace you, keep your job open for you, and if they pay you, then that's an expense. From your side of things, having a family is important, more important than what anyone in work thinks or says, so I guess it's like anything in life, you pay your money and you take your ticket, it depends on what you value most I suppose.

I know two women who did this in my company. I saw one of them come back with a bump and thought wow she hasn't lost the baby weight....then it emerged she was pregnant again and would only be back for a few months. She went off and had her baby and is now back, doing the job she did before. Don't know what the reaction to all of this was. The other woman came back and we already knew she was pregnant again - she was put on some silly project work as she wasn't back for that long, so they had her doing mickey mouse work. She went off, had her baby and then resigned. I can only imagine how that was viewed. It I was in that situation myself I would feel bad about work, as they'd be factoring me back into their plans for my return only to discover I was about to head off again. But I suppose you have to think of your age, family situation etc first. If you want children close together, then what choice do you have? They say 18 months - 2 years is the optimal amount of time between children (for your body's health), meaning you could get pregnant when your first baby is 9 months old. If you get 6 months fully paid and then take the additional 16 weeks unpaid (c.4 months), plus taking whatever your holiday entitlement is at work, you could easily be off for 11 months......so you could easily be 2 months pregnant when you went back, even if you do wait for that "optimal interval". And of course, lots of people get pregnant before their first baby is 9 months old, so they'd be even more pregnant going back. If you were 2 months pregnant going back (or in and around), it would only be around 4 - 8 weeks before you were telling your employer, as you'd need time off for scans etc. I would feel HORRIBLE about doing that...but if I end up in that situation, what can I do? I'd feel sick about it though!!!! I don't think they can fire you or do anything like that, but it's all about how you're viewed, perception etc and I hate being viewed badly...depends on how thick your skin is, and how important it is to have your children closely together vs being in your boss's good books!!!!

Well I took my 10mths mat leave on DD. Got pregnant when planned when was 9mths old and came back to work pregnant in Sept. I'll be going out on mat leave in March. I felt guilty and was fairly terrified telling my boss. A few weeks after I told him the company (small company 10 employees) announced that they would be making 3 ppl redundant. I fully believe I was supposed to be one of those ppl, but because I am leaving in March anyway it would only cost the company money to get rid of me (redundancy payment). As it is I'll leave in Mar and they don't have to pay me until I come back to work in 2010 (we don't get mat pay from company). Another girl told him she was pregnant the week before the redundancies were announced and she believes the same thing about her roll. After that I stopped feeling guilty about what I was doing. The boss had to make hard decisions to let 3 ppl go, it didn't enter his head about our family circumstances so why should I let work dictate how I'm going to live my life. My family come first now always. Yes I feel bad that I may be dumping a load of work on colleagues (the boss does my job when I'm out) but I have to do what's best for me and my family.

A girl in my company came back to work in early October 05, and went off on maternity leave again in November 2006. Nobody batted an eyelid. People usually expect you to have more than one child these days anyway, and in some cases I think it's probably easier on the company to have your maternity leave over and done with in the space of a couple of years. I think a lot depends on how you are viewed. Maria (this girl) was finance mgr before her first pregnancy, so she moved sideways into project work when she came back p-t after her first child, so she isn't in the position where she's seeking promotion.Also, she had been there a few years before she had her 2 kids. I can imagine that if you're only in the company a year, and then take a block of up to 2 years in 3 years as maternity leave,a nd then say you're not coming back it doesnt' look too good.

[quote="a non":1dly6g44]Thank you girls ... Delish- what kind of reaction did you get from your boss, HR, others in the company- any bit.chiness? Anyone dare make any comments? I just feel like if I go back PG or start TTC straight away, I'll be looked on badly. Can they actually like sack me, make me redundant for being on leave so much? (I know they technically can't but I'm afraid I'll be forced out IYKWIM?)[/quote:1dly6g44] I work in a small private (overstaffed lol) office. I wasn't paid on mat leave just got my stamps (which I'm entitled to from my previous prsi payments), so I really don't feel any guilt at all. I told my boss before I came back to work and to be honest I think it suits both of us. The office has quietened down, so I'm reviewing files at the mo, bringing them up to speed and will probably leave a memo on them advising what has to be done and they'll be kept ticking over while I'm gone. I don't imagine I'll be getting a payrise or review until I'm back full time. So you know the way I look at it is, employers have you on their books so that you will make money for them, and likewise my first priority is myself and my family. No one made any bitchy comments, I left my files up to date, I'll do my work while I'm here and I'll review them when I'm back. Can't see why anyone would make any comments really.