Timing of Maternity Leave

Hi Irene,

With both my pregnancies I worked till 38+ weeks.
With the second one, we also used an electronic system. I gave HR the dates verbally, but I only entered it into the system a few days before I left.

They were very understanding, since they knew how these things can change.

Hi Ilene
I think the later the better as you get to spend more time with baby. What I did was stop a day before my due day then took 2 weeks earlier from my annual leave as I needed to prepare for baby. Remember also that each woman is different, some cant cope by 37 weeks, I worked longer as I was fine and able to work. It depends on your health and preference. For me taking it later was better.

By my werk vul ons verlof op elektroniese stelsel in, as dit eers in is is dit n groot kopseer om dit te verander. Ek weet net nie hoe mens beplan as dit n normale geboorte is nie, weet nie wanneer baba sal kom nie..

Irene,

ek het gewerk tot op die laaste dag voor baba gebore word.

Met die ene gaan ek moontlik die 10de Junie afgaan en baba word 11 Junie gebore.

(dis nou te se as hy nie vroeer kom soos ek vermoed hy gaan doen nie)

ek sou se praat met jou HR, soms is hulle nice, ek voel net om 'n maand vroeer op Maternity leave te gaan 'n maand van jou bond tyd met baba beroof

Hi,

Any tips / advice about how long before the due date one should go on maternity leave?

I get 4 months maternity leave and baby would then have to go to a creche, so ideally I would want to keep on working as late as possible - I suppose a week before due date is unrealistic? Is two weeks better? Or longer before the time?

Thanks!