Maternity Leave Questions

Bump Jackie · April 2013

Hi moms!

Hi Workin' Mamas!

Our editors have a few questions for you and we would LOVE your feedback for other moms who are entering this stage:

-How much maternity time did you take from work, if any? Why did you chose that amount of time, or was that the time given to you?

-What circumstances impacted how much time you took?

-How much maternity time was paid?

You can respond here or email community@thebump.com with "Maternity Time" in the subject with your story!

Thank you!

cutemary007 · April 2013

I took 12 weeks of maternity leave. I chose this amount of time because it was realistically all we could afford. I was allowed up to 6 months of unpaid leave.

For our situation 8 weeks of maternity leave was paid and 4 weeks was unpaid. I'm the higher earner in our family so it was essential for me to go back to work.

st.augbride · April 2013

-How much maternity time did you take from work, if any? 4 months

-Why did you chose that amount of time, or was that the time given to you? It consisted of my given leave (6 weeks for vaginal delivery or 8 weeks for c-section) plus accrued annual leave

-What circumstances impacted how much time you took? I took as much as I could. I stretched it out by working from home 1-2 days per week.

-How much maternity time was paid? All of it. I am not allowed to take unpaid leave in my profession. If I was allowed to take unpaid leave, I would have stayed home at least another 2 months.

wells2010 · April 2013

I had LO right after graduating, so no job yet or paid time off.

I ended up getting a job right after I started applying when LO was about 5 weeks old. In a tight job market for new grads I had to take it and wound up starting work when my daughter was 8 weeks old. My new job has great benefits for maternity (but I can't use them until April 2015). I plan on having our next one soon after that and will be taking the max amount (I think it's 16 weeks at 70% of pay, which I pay extra for this benefit out of my checks. Otherwise it would be 16 weeks at 50%).

My husband took 5 weeks off at full salary. He had time banked up and used it. That was great since I wasn't working and it was nice to have him home, especially the week before I had her and right after birth.

bgf1 · April 2013

One year as I am Canadian.

I am paid through employment insurance while on leave. It works out to about 40 of what I normally make.

My decision to take the full year was based on my goal of bfing for one year and the fact that my husband was able to be of for six weeks by using vacation and overtime do he didn't want to take any of the time.

carteramariec · April 2013

I was able to take 6 weeks of maternity leave. I work for a small law firm and it was the maximum amount of time my firm could afford to have me gone. I had previously been on bed rest for the 2 months leading up to my LO's birth, so all in all I was gone 3.5 months. I wish I could have taken more, but I couldn't afford to live without a paycheck.

All of my leave time, both for my bed rest and my maternity leave, was paid. Thankfully.

joyroxxu · April 2013

-How much maternity time did you take from work, if any? Why did you chose that amount of time, or was that the time given to you?

I was off for a total of 20 weeks Dr took me off one 6 weeks before due date, I was paid through my work for that six weeks plus an additional 3 weeks of salary pay. I used 3 weeks vacation pay and the 6 weeks pay through California disability for family bonding time. I then took an additional 2 weeks unpaid leave.

-What circumstances impacted how much time you took?

I took the maximum amount of time we could financially afford. I would have liked to take more but it wasn't feasible.

-How much maternity time was paid?

I am a salaried manager and we have up to 90 days paid medical leave. Total of 77 days were paid through my work and 6 weeks paid through disability for bonding time.

jasara7980 · April 2013

-How much maternity time did you take from work, if any? Why did you chose that amount of time, or was that the time given to you?I took 7 weeks of maternity time. This was the amount of time I chose. -What circumstances impacted how much time you took? I am a teacher and I came back form maternity leave at the end of quarter and it was after spring break. -How much maternity time was paid?Only two weeks were paid and it was from my sick leave.

kerbear135 · April 2013

I took 8 weeks- I chose this amount of time because that was the amount of PTO I had saved. I couldn't afford to take leave without pay, otherwise I would have probably taken all 12 weeks I was allowed under FMLA.

ForeverEverAfter · April 2013

I am Canadian so I'm allowed 12 months from date of birth. I plan to take 10-11 months because I will need several recertifications that are offered in the fall. If I went back in Dec I would have to wait on the courses and my coworkers would get less vacation time granted over the holidays. Also, employment insurance pays me 45% of my normal take home pay so it would help financially to go back early. I EBF and plan to continue beyond a year, so that was definitely a factor in my decision. By the time I return Im hoping to have LO drinking from a cup (refuses bottles). My husband is able to take the remainder of my leave if I go back early, which gives us extra time to ease into child care.

reyorra · April 2013

I took 13 weeks of maternity leave. When I was planning my time off, I told my bosses that I would not return from maternity leave until exactly three months after my due date. However, my daughter was born a week early, so I took one extra week off. I actually used three days of vacation during that week so I would receive a slightly bigger paycheck. I was paid for 6 weeks at 60%. By the end of my maternity leave I was definitely out of savings, and didn't realize how much of an additional cost would be incurred by adding my daughter to my health insurance and needing to pay for the insurance coverage during the three months, but I would definitely take the same amount of time again in the future.

heon35 · May 2013

I took 12 weeks. It was the max I could take and afford. My company's max is 12 weeks (even though I think they personally preferred 6 to 8). None of it was paid. But, I have a short term disability insurance policy through my company which covered 75% of my pay for 6 weeks. Every little bit helps.

minni_ash · May 2013

I am a teacher and I had 35 sick days built up soi took those 7 weeks and got paid. I immediately took a 12 week unpaid FMLA (still got insurance and benefits) now I have to return for a week to finish out the school year. I am resigning at the end of the year but will have my benefits until the end of August. I basically did this to get the most time off, and longest use of my benefits before being a stay at home mommy!

mrsnala · May 2013

I took 15 weeks off, I was given 12 weeks paid and the option to take an additional 8 weeks unpaid (for a total of 20 weeks). Our decision to take the additional 3 weeks unpaid was based on my husbands work schedule (he is a freelancer/self employed) and how busy he was, which went hand and hand with how much we could afford for me to take off unpaid.

spinsoffresonance · May 2013

I'm a graduate student working in a hospital research lab on my PhD thesis. I signed up for 8 weeks of paid maternity leave, which is the maximum my University offers for a c-section delivery. However, I started working from home at 3 weeks and returned to work at 7 weeks pp. The deadline to turn in my PhD thesis and graduate was 2 weeks after the end of my official maternity leave, so I had to go back to work earlier to get it done in time. All the leave I took was paid at my normal salary

NicoleWI · May 2013

-How much maternity time did you take from work, if any? Why did you chose that amount of time, or was that the time given to you?

I took the full 12 weeks that I could take based on FMLA, but I came back before 12 weeks and stretched out the remaining leave days so that I could be PT for awhile. I think maternity leave should be longer. I also think it would be nice if it started at 38 or 39 weeks and still went for at least 12 weeks after the birth.

-What circumstances impacted how much time you took?

I wanted to take as much as I could, even though it meant taking unpaid time.

-How much maternity time was paid?

Six weeks paid via a combo of short term disability and accrued sick time for the first two; 8 weeks b/c I had a c-section with the third. The remaining weeks were mostly unpaid other than holidays. I could have used vacation time for extra pay, but I preferred to save my days and still have those days to take off during the rest of the year.

MichelleEZcheck · May 2013

-How much maternity time did you take from work, if any? Why did you chose that amount of time, or was that the time given to you?

My work gives us 13 weeks full paid time. We have the option of taking up to a year and our job will still be here when we return- however, after the 13 weeks, you're either using your own time off/vacation or you won't be getting paid. I wish I could have used the one year option, but sadly DH's and my financial scenario won't allow it.

-What circumstances impacted how much time you took?

How much time work gave vs the need to get paid- so when their time frame was up, back to work I went.

-How much maternity time was paid?

The full 13 weeks.

AppleJacks81 · May 2013

12 weeks, 8 were paid (csection gets you 8 weeks paid, vaginal delivery gets 6 weeks paid). You can supplement the rest with PTO, or take FMLA no pay. I didn't want to burn vacation, so I took no pay. We are fortunate that we could afford the unpaid time so I still have my vacation days banked.

dewsal · May 2013

I took a total of 21 weeks, I worked from home the last 10 weeks. The first 11 were paid using my own vacation and sick leave. If I could have taken longer I would have.

vcrown · May 2013

I took 12 weeks of leave. 6 weeks was paid through Short Term Disability at 100% of my salary, 6 weeks was FMLA. Before I even had the baby, I decided I'd stop working at 40 weeks, no matter what. I worked it out with my boss instead to just work from home from 40 weeks until 41 weeks 3 days.

I chose that amount of time because it was the max I could take. With my older daughter, I didn't take the max and I ended up regretting it. A big factor was that I already suspected I wanted to quit. So I had no problems with taking a long leave. But I've since returned to work and it hasn't been as terrible as I remember it being.

=Lee=B · July 2013

Also in Canada. I'll receive a full year at I think it's 45% income. In my province we also receive a cheque for $100 a month per child until they turn 6 years old to help with child care costs while I am off this helps to supplement the loss of income.

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