Maternity leave for third child?

[Raven24]

I have had my boys close together so i had my first maternity leave getting statutory maternity pay and then went back to work for 4 months and then left for second maternity leave and had maternity allowance. We are starting to think about baby number 3 but my question is after having two periods of maternity leave, do i need to have been back working for a specific amount of time or does it not matter?
Te reason i ask is that. Im sur ei read somewhere online that after two periods of maternity leave close together you have to be back at work for a full year befor wyou are entitled to maternity leave again but i cant remember where i read this.
Thanks and congrats if you understood any of that lol

 

[xxembobxx]

To be entitled to SMP you only need to be at work for a week before getting pregnant but still need to be employed by the 25th week of pregnancy. I would advise allowing a couple of weeks at work before getting pregnant due to the way the medical profession calculate you are 2 weeks pregnant before you even conceive.
MA is based on how much you worked in the previous 66 weeks before your due date. If you are claiming MA now then you are still classed as employed so should be entitled to MA again straight away although you would not get the full amount as it is based on your income in weeks 17 to 25 I think.
I believe you only have to be at work a year to claim an enhanced rate of maternity pay which would depend on the company you work for. Otherwise the statutory length of employment applies as above

 

[xxembobxx]

Oops just double-checked and it seems MA does not class you as having earnings so you would have to go back to work to be entitled to SMP.

"MA is not treated as earnings for calculating future entitlement to SMP, should you become pregnant again during or shortly after your present maternity leave."
A lot of info on here: https://www.maternityaction.org.uk/...ebuilderfiles/commonmaternitypayquestions.pdf