Women cut short maternity leave as statutory pay so low

A woman forced to go back to work six weeks after giving birth due to not being able to live on statutory maternity pay has said she will regret the decision for the rest of her life.

- MAYA OPPENHEIM

Laura Mazzeo, from north London, told The Independent she went back to her job in construction after taking six weeks of government maternity pay despite being very physically weak at the time due to having recently undergone surgery.

New research from campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, which polled almost 6,000 women, has found four in 10 mothers took just 12 weeks or less of maternity leave after the birth of their most recent child due to the low levels of maternity pay in the UK.

“I will regret it for the rest of my life,” Ms Mazzeo said. “Not being able to take time to recover and adjust to that new state of life really puts pressure on your relationship with the baby and then you resent the baby. It means you can’t take into account the change and adapt – as you are forced to go back to how you were but you can’t.”