NHS maternity pay

Just found out my NHS maternity pay is 6 weeks 90% pay and then 12 weeks half pay plus SMP, then drops too only SMP which we won't be able to pay our bills with, so that means I'll have to go back to work after 18 weeks 🫣 Has anyone ever gone back to work after maternity and then gone off sick with full pay for a few months? I feel bad and anxious doing it but I don't feel like there's another option financially 💚

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To help out financially I had my maternity equally spilt across my leave - this should be an option for you as well I should hope

I split my money over 9 months and then saved for the three months so I could pay myself. I’m in month 10 now and it’s been okay! Plus I also work for NHSP so was able to claim SMP twice, might be worth looking in to

I thought NHS would have paid more than this. Is this across all NHS trusts?

You can split your OMP but will get paid less for the first two months until your smp kicks in. and smp has just gone up to about £800 a month. For me it’s been about a 40% pay cut by splitting it over 10 months. My last month before I go back is annual leave. I would feel like I was jinxing myself going off sick

I averaged mine out and came out the pension and that helped a lot! Also took 2 weeks annual leave at the end so only had 8 1/2 months may leave

How come it’s this low? Are you agenda for change banded because that’s a standard % and is more than this

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