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1898060 tn?1336423105

Stopping working...

Hey ladies, Im just curious when/if you have or are getting put off work before the baby comes? I work full time overnights  at a homeless shelter and only get roughly 4-5 hours sleep (very broken up sleep) and feel exhausted. It is an extremely high stress environment and I just dont feel like I can take it anymore. Im only 25 weeks now and know that its going to get worse!! Has anyone gotten put off work before their mat leave?
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Avatar universal
My first pregnancy I stopped working at 37 weeks. I had to have a doc note. I used my pto during my time off. This pregnancy I have to use my pto which I have over a months worth, than I use my unpaid 12 weeks maternity leave. My first pregnancy I had a very physical job so I stopped at 37 weeks. This time my job isnt as physical and I will work till I pop.
Helpful - 0
1898060 tn?1336423105
wow 3 months leave max in the US? I feel for you ladies! I am in Canada and I heard about taking sick/stress leave before you maternity leave. I was talking with my doctor this morning and she was mentioning things like short term disability and things so and I have no idea whats going on. I have another appointment on the 10th with my new doc (the one who will deliver my baby) and hopefully will be able to work something out.
Helpful - 0
2038076 tn?1330003424
Well let me start off first by saying I am 26: 1. I decided at 27 wks I was going to stop working. I am a bartender and work 40 hours a weeks ten hours a day on my feet. I am exhausted all the time. In my job I don't get maternity leave.
Helpful - 0
2038076 tn?1330003424
Well let me start off first by saying I am 26: 1. I decided at 27 wks I was going to stop working. I am a bartender and work 40 hours a weeks ten hours a day on my feet. I am exhausted all the time. In my job I don't get maternity leave.
Helpful - 0
1794093 tn?1357930759
Actually Mat leave in Canada is up to 1.5 years (they are talking to extending it to 2 years) but we only get paid for 1 year of it... but this entitles us to keep our jobs while we are gone :)

i plan on putting in my notice for 36 weeks which would be the last week in June... that would be approx 3 weeks before my c section, my daughter turns 2 a week after and then ill have 2 weeks off to relax and do last minute stuff.... i know if i were to stay and work to the end that id most likely swell up (like last time) and im sure id get pulled from work (go on medical leave till baby is born) but it just isnt something i want to risk not happening and with mat leave they base your pay off the last 14 weeks so starting this week i have to pick up as much as i can(im casual) so this way also gives me more room to plan out what im gonna be working :)
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640548 tn?1340553355
Anyway, for the OP...

Some states will supplement your income if you are forced to leave work early with short term disability up to 6 weeks.  I don't know state by state, with my oldest however, my state at the time did not offer that, now they do.  I would talk to your Dr. and see what they recommend for you.  Are the people you work for willing to help you at work, maybe move you around somehow and find work or hours that maybe aren't as stressful?
Helpful - 0
640548 tn?1340553355
Also women in the US who work for small companies aren't even guaranteed that 3 months.  It's not technically maternity leave, it is Family Medical Leave.  It can be used for things like a birth, or taking care of a sick family member, or if one is sick themselves.  There are a specific amount of hours that must be worked in a year, and one must have been at their job for a minimum of a year.  Women who work for my husband's company don't get sick days, it is either vacation for pay or the family leave days, so if they leave to give birth and have taken a week off prior for an illness they are already down one week for baby related time off.
Helpful - 0
2011481 tn?1374262667
Wow...... I really feel for all the women in the US for what they go through.  
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1901977 tn?1333991726
I wish we had that privilege, but no such luck. I'm a single mother and though my ex will be contributing, I actually make significantly more than him so I just can't give up my income like that...it's how I will feed, clothe, and shelter my child. Even if I could afford it, if I gave up my job I'd be unlikely to find another one, since I'm a professor and the academic job market is pretty small and competitive, so I'd have to be willing to be unemployed indefinitely. Here it's generally understood that unless you have multiple incomes and a woman is willing to give up her job, staying home is not an option. Still hate it though...in a perfect world, or in Canada, I'd be able to be there with her all the time.
Helpful - 0
2011481 tn?1374262667
I can't get over that, when I read that my jaw fell open.  We have a total of a year, depending on when you start, and you get 65% of your income.  You spouce can also take parental with you, but it get taken off of your year.  

I wouldn't want to put my 2 or 3 month old baby in a daycare, I wouldn't let my children out of my site for at least a year...
Helpful - 0
1901977 tn?1333991726
3 months TOTAL, unpaid is what is guaranteed to us under law. If a woman has to stop working early for medical reasons like me, she'd only have a month or two (at most) home with the baby before she has to give up her job. As it is, I'm going back to work when my little one is about 2 months, and the baby's going to daycare...I hate it, but I have no other option. And I'm a full-time worker, in a professional career, I'm not even sure how it works for part-time workers here but would guess I'm in one of the better work situations here.
Helpful - 0
2011481 tn?1374262667
Wow, 3 months.... that's all you ladies get in the US?  That is crazy.  I know with my first I was on Workers Compensation so I didn't have to worry about it, but with my second I felt fine, so I worked up until 7 days to my due date.  
Helpful - 0
1901977 tn?1333991726
Any chance Canada might want to invade the U.S.? Pregnant mothers everywhere would thank you guys lol. To stay home a year I'd have to be willing to give up a year's income, since after the three months we have to quit our jobs to stay home.
Helpful - 0
1756475 tn?1330538713
Talk to your Dr.  I know that here in Canada you can go on "stress leave" and then go on mat leave and they don't effect each other.   Then again Mat leave here is 1 year.
Helpful - 0
1901977 tn?1333991726
I'm stopping work at 30 weeks (the end of this week), but it's complicated. They actually do deduct it from my maternity leave, and I had to kick in sick leave so I get my paycheck, otherwise it's unpaid. I also have to get my doctor to sign off on the maternity leave form, so there's got to be medical justification for why you're leaving. I wasn't planning on taking maternity leave at all. I teach and our semester is done in May, so I would have been done with work around 36 weeks anyway, and I would have been free until August so I won't take maternity leave afterward. But I've had pregnancy complications and work is making them worse, so my doctor was more than happy to sign off on the paperwork for me.

You can probably have that conversation with your doctor, it sounds like your work situation might justify early leave, but if you do your time home with the baby after she's born might be reduced. In the U.S., assuming that's where you are, you usually only get 3 months total no matter when you take it.
Helpful - 0
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