Maternity leave?

[sebandbay]

i am expecting my second child in september but my first child was 8 weeks early. I am of the opinion that the earliest maternity leave can start is 11 weeks.

Does the law say that i may start my maternity leave early as my fist child was premature?

[TopCat1]

Are you in the UK? If so, you can start your leave any time in pregnancy as long as you give your employer 4 weeks notice. But you still only have the same amount of maternity leave, no matter when you start it.

(My little girl was 5 weeks early, so I had to start mine early, but I was sooo lucky, my employer paid me full sick pay for the 5 weeks and started my leave after that)

[Bohne]

In Germany, if your baby is early, you get that time added to your leave time after birth.

So you get 14 weeks minimum no matter what.

[sebandbay]

I am in th UK

Thanks for the responses so far.