Maternity Leave! Don't want to come back!!

[lylabellablueyes]

Hi again,

I'm due to go on Maternity leave in July. I have opted to have the longest time off, which is 15 months. 9 months paid and 6 months unpaid.

I don't want to return full stop to be honest. What will happen?


I mean, some people have said that i'd be made to pay back all maternity pay etc..

It doesn't state anything in my maternity contract, or my normal one strangely enough. Does it depend on what my company rules are really?

[dave50]

Not getting at you Lyla as I dont know your circumstances and this is just a general observation and I doubt it applies to you but I cannot understand women who have a partner that earns a good wage, enough for the mother to be able to stay at home to take care of the baby but she still cant wait to get back to work after giving birth and hand the baby to a childminder, saying it would drive them mad staying at home all day. If that's the case why bother having a baby at all if she cant be bothered to look after it. Hardly maternal is it?

[boxtops]

That's a bloke's view dave - being female myself, I can understand it entirely that women want to go back to work. Motherhood doesn't come easily to everyone.

[tigwig]

Another point to this is the longer the mat leave the harder it can be to leave the child. Speaking from experience of looking after other's babies for 16 years settling them gets harder and harder. It was much easier for them to adjust when they were left at 6mths instead of 12mths or more that it regularly is now. Not that I agree with leaving young babies for long hours but they often cope with it better.