Can you really afford maternity leave? Here how to grow a baby fund in 9 months or less!

A recent survey by Maternity Action, found that the proportion of women who worried a lot about money while pregnant or on maternity leave has risen considerably over the last few years from 64% in 2022 to 73% in 2024. And 65% of women said money worries had affected their mental health and wellbeing while pregnant or on maternity leave.

It's not all doom and gloom though, because with 9 months to get your finances in shape, there’s plenty of time and lots of ways to make a difference to your bank account.

To help you enjoy this special time with your new baby rather than stressing over the pennies, we spoke to financial experts as well as real mums who have been in the same situation to bring you 8 simple mat leave money stretching ideas.

How much money do you need for maternity leave?

There’s no set minimum figure you need in your bank to pay for your maternity leave (although many parents aim for about two months’ salary worth of savings) and every new parent’s situation is unique depending on their individual salary, whether they have a partner in work and their monthly outgoings.

However, there is a way to work out approximately how much you’ll need, by doing this simple calculation…

Tot up how much money you’ll receive over the course of your leave based on your employer’s maternity leave policy. Now divide this by the number of months or weeks you’re planning to take off work. With this number you’ll be able to see if you can cover any bills, rent or mortgage you contribute to and if there’s any left over.

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), is now £187.18 per week from April 2025, and lasts for 39 weeks (so if you take leave for longer, remember you won’t be paid at all for those weeks or months), and employers must pay you at least 90% of your average weekly earnings before tax for the first 6 weeks.

You’ll also need to add in some room in your maternity leave budget for food and essentials like nappies and formula (if you’re planning to use bottles). If you have a partner in work, remember to look at how much of their salary can cover the dent made by your drop in earnings.

If the final number falls short of what you expect to spend on mat leave, then it’s time to get saving, make some extra money or, as 59% of women in the Maternity Action survey did, consider returning to work sooner than you initially planned.

Gemma Bird, author and money-saving influencer known as @moneymumofficial, says preparation is key.

“Start thinking about your finances the minute you find out you’ll be going on maternity leave.”

Gemma recommends setting aside a portion of your salary early on to soften the financial blow: “If you’re on a full-time wage and you know you’re going to be dropping down to SMP, try and put half of your money away for the next nine months.”

And if you want to take the full year off, a steady savings plan can make it possible: “If you manage to put £300 away per month the minute you find out you’re pregnant, and you want to take a full year off, you then have money to cover the last three months, which you wouldn’t usually get paid for.”

8 easy ways to save money before and during maternity leave

We’ve rounded up the smartest, most practical money-saving tips from financial experts and real mums who’ve been there – so you can focus on bonding with your baby, not stressing about your bank balance.

1. Be smart with your annual leave

Thankfully while you’re on maternity leave you still accrue annual leave so you can use this to your advantage to make your mat leave more financially viable.

If by the end of 9 months mat leave you can’t afford to take the extra 3 months with no SMP you could tag your accrued annual leave onto the end of your mat leave and get paid but still be off work for several weeks.

If your employer agrees, you could also have a staggered start back to work by using your annual leave to take one or two days off each week before you go back to your usual full or part-time hours.

“I took the full nine months off and then used my entire four weeks holiday from the year before allowance, I then took two months of unpaid leave where I used the money that I’d saved.”

2. Make the most of any employee benefits

Every employer has different benefits, so make sure to read your contract carefully or speak to HR to maximise yours.

If you need a bit of money to keep you going towards the end of your maternity leave and want a slow and gentle introduction back into work, you can discuss Keeping in Touch days with your employer. You can work up to 10 Keeping in Touch (KIT) days and will be paid for these.

“I negotiated enhanced maternity pay from my employer on the basis that I’d been there a while, and that I’d return after,” says Natalie Pejovic, a member of the Made For Mums Top Testers Club.

“Having the conversation was nerve wracking, but it definitely helped! KIT days also helped. I started those early on from home to help top up my pay. I used all 10 as I saw them as 10 days’ pay at my previous full-time salary equivalent.”

In addition, there are also 20 paid Shared Parental Leave in Touch (SPLIT) days you can work in addition to the KIT days. And remember to have a think about your particular job and how you can time leave in your favour.

“I used Shared Parental Leave wisely as a teacher to get full pay during school holidays. This boosted my monthly income massively, especially over the summer.”

Another option is to ask your employer to split your pay evenly over the number of months or weeks you’ll be on maternity leave. While this won’t get you any extra money, it will help you with your budgeting and stop you overspending one month and not having enough the next.

“I asked my employer to split my maternity pay over the months/time I was having off,” says Toyin Miller, a member of the Made For Mums Top Testers Club.

“A lot of maternity pay is front-loaded, but the payroll department can help with financial budgeting if you split your pay more equally over each month. This was incredibly helpful for me and made those latter months of maternity leave less painful.”

3. Identify easy cutbacks

“Write down all your financial incomings and outgoings – and I mean every, single thing,” says Gemma.

“By doing this you may find a pattern. For instance, I’ve got friends who say, ‘Why am I in debt?’ and it turns out they’re buying a Starbucks every day or they have a gym membership and do Zumba classes too, which is costing them another tenner. Keeping track of your money in this way means it’s easier to spot how and where you could be saving.”

“The average takeaway for two costs around £30, which could buy 99 nappies—a week’s worth for a newborn using 10 to 12 nappies daily.”

“Every few months, review your bank account for subscriptions and decide if they're still necessary.” says Christie, “For example, if you're paying more than £30 for Netflix, Disney Plus, and Amazon Prime Video but mainly watch one, consider cancelling the rest.

“Similarly, evaluate your gym membership — many streaming services offer workout videos that may be more convenient once the baby arrives, and you’ll be able to squeeze in a 15-minute YouTube routine around the newborn’s napping schedule.”

4. Find free events and classes to meet other mums

There’s no denying maternity leave can be lonely at times (newborns sleep between 12 and 16 hours a day and aren’t great conversationalists) so it’s important to get out and about and meet other parents.

However, registering for paid classes can make a huge dent in your budget, you may end up missing some sessions when baby isn’t playing ball, and they aren’t the only way to meet people.

“Look for parenting events at nearby churches, your local council or ask your health visitors if there are any free local meets or services,” says Gemma.

“I didn’t pay for NCT and I went to the free council run maternity meet-up for mums. Instead of going to expensive coffee shops for meetings, we rotated between our houses. That way you’re just hosting once every six weeks or so and all you’ve got to provide is some coffee and cake.”

Don’t just look for free events when you’re on maternity leave though, use the 9 months you’re pregnant to save by swapping expensive cinema trips or meals out with more budget-friendly options.

“Use sites like Eventbrite to find free local events. These small savings can help you afford activities during maternity leave, like baby yoga, soft play, and swimming, which do come with costs.

5. Earn some money while on maternity leave

In between changing nappies and feeding baby, you might find you have a bit of spare time on maternity leave, so you could use it wisely to add some money to your baby budget.

The easiest way to make money is to sell some of your unwanted things to make some cash, but you could also branch out and sell for other people too.

“If you have a friend or family member who has lots of things that they want to sell in their house, but they don’t have the time to do it, volunteer your services,” says Gemma.

“You’ve probably already got apps like Vinted, Facebook Marketplace and eBay on your phone, so make an arrangement where you take a percentage of the profits of everything sold.”

Once you’ve finished with baby bits and you know you won’t use them anymore don’t let them gather dust. Sell them on straightaway to help you pay for the next thing your baby or toddler might need.

“I always buy my little one’s clothes on Vinted and now I’m also using it to sell of things I know I won’t need. This month I’ve made more money on Vinted than I’ve been paid in SMP!”

Perhaps you have a particular skill you could use to make some extra cash. These could include creating greetings cards, artwork or personalised items that you can sell on Etsy or using sewing skills to alter or make clothes for people while baby is napping.

“I became a mystery shopper and I also did ‘assignments’ through road works and reviewed how well traffic was flowing through areas,” says Stephie Annan, a member of Made For Mums’ Top Tester Club.

“It was great as my daughter would sleep in the car! It sounds boring, but it worked for me and gave me a coffee shop fund, so little treats didn’t impact on wider finances.”

6. Learn to shop smart

If your weekly shopping trolley is filled with things you’ve added on a whim or expensive ready meals and convenience foods, then it’s time to get smart about how you shop.

Rule 101 of savvy shopping is to write a shopping list of ingredients you can use to make dishes from scratch and STICK TO IT.

Consider spending a weekend before your due date batch cooking cheap and easy meals like lasagne, cottage pie and chilli and sticking them in the freezer ready for when you first have your baby or days when you don’t get a chance to cook.

Do your research on where to buy budget-friendly nappies and the cheapest formula (all formula must apply to the same government guidelines whatever the price!).

“I’d also suggest signing up to all of the parenting groups. You’ve got Pampers Club, Boots Club, and all of the supermarkets have got baby clubs, where they will send you vouchers for free or discounted baby products.”

You could also offer your services as a reviewer: “I applied to do product testing,” says Lucia, a member of the Made For Mums Top Testers Club. “This way I was being sent things to test that I would otherwise been paying for like baby food, dishwasher tablets, washing liquid, washing powder, even toilet paper - this helped a lot!”

Some of the mums in our Top Testers Club also took part in paid online surveys, secret shopping trips and product testing to receive vouchers, used vouchers from loyalty cards for free days out and instead of buying baby books borrowed them from the library.

Don’t think that your newborn baby needs everything to be brand new – accept good hand me downs, such as clothes and a pram, with open arms (but don’t let people dump rubbish on you!).

“Newborns don’t understand money,” says Gemma. “They don’t need brand new toys or hundreds of items of clothing; take a look at some second-hand options and check out Facebook marketplace for some great steals.”

The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) runs regular local Nearly New sales for big ticket items like prams, cots, changing tables as well as clothes and toys at bargain prices.

Finally, if you’re having a baby shower wait to see what gifts you receive, before buying bits for your baby.

“Chances are you’ll get loads of newborn clothes, so I’d suggest taking them back to the shop and asking to swap for the next size up,” says Gemma. “I don’t think I bought my son any clothes until he was two because I kept switching them up!”

7. Make your savings work harder

If you’ve managed to save some money before mat leave it’s important to make the most of it. Christie Cook recommends considering easy access accounts but warns that fixed rate accounts might offer more security as rates fluctuate.

“Opening a Fixed Rate ISA during pregnancy means you can’t touch it until the third month of your maternity leave, giving you savings plus interest when you need it most.”

Take time to look at whether you’re receiving all the benefits from your bank account too such as cashback rewards or consider making a switch to another account if it’s offering financial rewards for switching or has better benefits than your current account.

8. Apply for all the benefits you’re entitled to

Be sure to check if you qualify for any extra help from the government: “It’s worth checking if you are entitled to any additional benefits while you're on mat leave,” says Shereen Wels, a member of the Made For Mums Top Testers Club.

“My husband works full time, and I work 3 days a week while not on mat leave. We have 3 children, and we're entitled to a small amount of universal credit each month. It's not a lot, but it certainly helps.”

Once you’ve had your baby you might be eligible for child benefit too, which comes in at £25.60 per week for the eldest child and £16.95 for additional children.

References:

• The Cost of Living on Maternity Leave Survey 2024, Maternity Action