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Tell Shared Parental Leave what your maternity/paternity leave was like: win a voucher!

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  • I took the full maternity leave and I loved it. My husband took about 2 weeks but I did think at the time that there just wasn't enough information on the shared aspect of it. 
  • Shared parental leave means we can properly share care of our new baby and strive for equality!
  • I took a few weeks, men get a rough deal!
  • I effectively work for myself contracting at other companies so luckily the company I was working for at the time agreed to me taking the 2 week paternity leave. It obviously meant unpaid leave effectively but a small price to pay for spending that time with the newbie.
  • I had the full leave off, and hubby just 2 weeks - loved every minute, though knackering!
  • Virtually non-existent for baby number 1. But for baby number 2 much better and I could not believe the difference it made.
  • My paternity leave didn't happen because my employer would only pay the statutory wage they had to which was approximately half of the wages i'd earn over that 2 week period and being on minimum wage, I couldn't afford such a drastic pay cut so I had to use up 2 weeks of my holiday allowance just so I didn't lose out on any money. It was nice having that time with my newborn and my missus but it was a shame I lost 2 weeks holidays which meant less time with them during the rest of the year.
  • I’m just over half way though my 9 months maternity leave. Baby was a bit early so I didn’t get any time before finishing work and while I had wanted to take some time to relax at home I’m glad I to the extra time with my little one. I’m really enjoying my time off work, it’s going so quickly and I’m lucky to have a very relaxed happy baby to look after. The bleak winter stage was tough and a bit relentless, but I’m looking forward to spring and better weather. Baby’s dad will be taking 3 months shared leave when I go back to work full time. Hopefully that will ease the transition for me, I’m not desperate to go back just yet. Baby will get some lovely time with his dad and his dad will find out just how much hard work it is! It’s worked out for us as we were able to save a bit before the baby and we can manage on my salary for a couple of months.
  • i hated my first lot of maternity leave , I was quite ill before my son was born so it started before i was ready , i ended up having to go back to work when my son was 8 weeks old and found it awful. I missed him and it made me depressed that i missed out so much with him in those early months. 
  • It passed in a daze. I missed the social aspects of work and found it good to return at the time.  
  • I took the full time and my husband took two weeks sadly he was dignosed with cancer so i was caring for him while creating memories it was the hearderst time of my life with very little /no support. i didnt return to work right way and cared for my husband and kids he passed away and i have returned to work after 2 years. If i could afford to give up work i would as I value different things now and being with my kids is one of those things
  • I do not have any children. I left my job in December and had time to spend with my cat. He hated me working long hours, as did I.
    It was so nice to spend time with him. He is, I believe, a much happier cat now.
  • When I had our children the maternity leave was only for 6 months and there was no paternity leave available for my husband. He took most of his holiday allocation available when each of our children were born. His employer was good like that. 
    I think that what is available now is far better than before and I hope that it does help people more than when I was expecting. My daughter has just finished work to have her first baby. Danielle Rose is due on the 16th May 2019. Hopefully she will benefit from this new system :D 

  • Mine was a lot harder than I thought because I love my job and after taking 6 months I was ready to come back.
  • I had the maximum possible maternity leave and it really was the best decision
  • I was lucky to be able to take my full maternity leave and my hubby's employers were very supportive of him having time off to be with us. 
  • I took full maternity leave as the deal was very good, my sons father couldn't take time off as he was a contractor and thus we would have lost an income, also I was more than happy to look after my son myself as I wouldn't have trusted him with a dog let alone my son .. surprisingly we are no longer together!!
  • I left a month before my due date as I had OC which became unbearable in the last couple of months & ended up being induced 3 weeks early anyway. After my daughter was born I could really enjoy my maternity leave and didn't want to go back to work at all after it was over! Money was quite tight so I had to go back and my partner is self employed so him taking time off is not an option for us. It's very hard
  • As I breastfeed I didn't really feel it was possible to share the parental leave (wasn't keen on expressing) so I had the full year off.
  • I didn't enjoy my maternity leave at all, i had twins, never knew sleep deprivation & exhaustion until that point. I had a double pushchair which would not fit down certain isles or through shop doors but it was the only one that would fit into the boot of my car, i couldn't get in to the mother baby group as the doors were too narrow. I always go out of my way now to help other mums, we always look ok on the outside and you never know how someone feels on the inside when you cant get through doors/changing rooms past check outs etc. 
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