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With Lucy awaiting the arrival of baby number two and having recently started maternity leave, this week we’re sharing our best advice to help you prepare yourself for maternity leave.  

There are hundreds of articles online telling you how to prepare for the arrival of a new baby, but what about preparing yourself for one of the biggest transitions of your life? Our advice is a mixture of ways to deal with the practicalities and how to deal with the range of emotions you are no doubt feeling as your baby’s arrival approaches. 

Our 7 tips are:  

1. Start your preparation early. Ideally, start thinking about your leave as soon as you’re pregnant. What do you want to achieve before you go on leave? What are your priorities? How can you make this happen? 
2. Create a transition plan. What do you need to put in place between now and leave to allow for a smooth transition?  
3. Work out your leave entitlements and put in any applications required. 
4. Think about when you will start maternity leave. Remember, dates can be changed, but it is a good idea to have a plan in mind.  
5. Consider whether you want to keep in touch with work while you are on leave and make sure your wishes are known.  
6. Plan a maternity leave project – something to occupy yourself if you find yourself getting bored at home.  
7. Think about your return to work. While you don’t need to plan your return in detail, you should consider how long you may like to take off.  

Links mentioned in this episode:  

• Blog post – 7 tips to prepare yourself for maternity leave 
• How to cope with pregnancy at work (Episode 30) 
• The business and social case for paid parental leave (episode 26) 
• The Juggle Community, our online Facebook group 
• Find us on Instagram and Facebook 
• The Juggle website, where you can find all episodes of The Juggle and sign up to be notified when a new episode is released 

Check out LawCPD’s generous offer … 

Once again, thank you to LawCPD for sponsoring today’s episode.  

LawCPD is running a competition for Juggle listeners throughout February and March. It’s a big one and there’s something for everyone! 

All you need to do to enter is to register your name and email address here. The prizes are: 

• Everyone who enters will receive a voucher to save $25 on their first purchase with LawCPD. 
• Each week between now and the end of March one person will win a 1-hour online CPD course of their choice. 
• At the end of March, LawCPD will draw a major prize winner, who will win 10-hours worth of online CPD courses of their choice!

Everyone who enters will be eligible for the major prize, even if they win a weekly prize. It’s the competition with something for everyone! Enter now!

Happy juggling!