Financial Impact of PP

[Jessi_D]

I appreciate money is a taboo topic, but I’d really like to know how other families cope financially when PP strikes.

The last time I had PP, I had to leave the MBU because I was too ill (separated from baby). After taking around one month of fully paid leave (compassionate leave), my husband decided to go back to work - this was important for his sanity, and he was also concerned about his job/income security having spent so much time away from work. He decided our baby would stay 1.5 hours away with my mum, who also works full-time. This meant he could work during the day, and visit me in the hospital at night. He subsequently had unexpected full-time childcare costs, and no income to pay for it (I was only in receipt of Maternity Allowance c.£140 p/w). Fortunately, due to low income, my mum was in receipt of tax credits which meant a 60-70% deduction to the nursery costs. My husband needed to buy a cheap but reliable car to collect our son every Friday (3 hour drive after work) and take him back every Sunday (another 3 hour drive) - so he had unexpected purchase plus car insurance, maintenance and fuel costs. This meant he could spend time with our son, visit me with him at the weekend, and give my mum some rest (after five night of sleep deprivation and full-time working). It cost us thousands of pounds and stripped us of our savings over my nine months of recovery before returning to work.

Now we have another baby on the way, and my biggest worry is the financial impact of PP!

We now have shared parental leave in the UK, and think my husband could take two months fully paid leave. I also get four months fully paid leave, then SMP c.£140 p/w for another 5 months. (NB If I wasn’t on maternity leave and suffered psychosis, I’d be eligible for 16 weeks fully paid sick leave, then 75% income protection would kick in after six months of sick leave.)

We would have unexpected childcare costs for a baby and four year old, if I’m too ill to stay in an MBU. My mum can’t help in the same way that she did, as our son will start school in September, and there’ll be no deduction to childcare costs as she doesn’t get tax credits anymore. She could stay with my husband (work from our home) if I’m in hospital or MBU, to help with visits or childcare in the evenings.

Nursery costs c. £1100 p/m, which could be paid by my maternity pay in the first few months of leave, but after that we will be limited to savings and overdraft. Savings will be low, due to expense of buying things needed for new baby and costs of a postnatal doula (to reduce risk of PP).

The only other thing I’ve considered is making a claim on the private medical invariance policies we have through work (both BUPA and AXA PPP), as they have some cash benefit if I’m inpatient in NHS hospital. But the claim can only be made after discharge, so would not help our cash flow.

Also, setting up a power of attorney is in plan, although yet to work out who can help me with that.

Have you any advice on how to cope financially? Any tips on what we could do to manage if I was unwell again? For example, have you any experience of banks temporarily reducing capital repayments to interest only (as our mortgage is our biggest expense). Or getting help with childcare costs somehow? Did your partner take a long time off work, and was his leave fully paid? If it wasn’t, how did you pay the bills?

Is there someone that can provide specialist financial advice to families at risk of PP? I’ve worked with independent financial advisors, and they wouldn’t have a clue about all this! They’re trained to advise on estate planning, tax avoidance, investment, retirement planning and insurance... and I’ve never heard of an insurance policy that would cover this type of risk, and if it did exist it would be very expensive!

[Helen_84 Volunteer]

Hi Jessi,

First of all congratulations on being pregnant again! It’s such a big step after having PP

It sounds like you and your family had a really hard time after the birth of your son, having added financial worries to everything else going must have been tough - it’s a stress you really don’t need when your going through such a traumatic time anyway. I was incredibly lucky in that we didn’t have the added childcare costs (which we all know can be huge!) that you had, and it’s a blessing that mine and my husband’s families live close by.

I don’t really know about extra support but have you thought about contacting Citizens Advice Bureau? They might know of avenues of help you haven’t considered. The charity Mind might be another point of contact for this type of advice.

It’s great that you are forward thinking about this though, if you do need extra help, having explored your options already will hopefully remove some of that added stress. Is this something that your husband can discuss with his work or not? Having his work prepared so that they can put plans in place if needed might help both of you.

I wish you a healthy pregnancy and beyond, keep us updated on how you get on,

All the best

Helen xx

[Mims2014]

I’m sorry we didn’t have any financial problems so my advice is pretty useless - we both live within ten mins of our parents, who are retired.

You can pay interest only on your mortgage, best to ring your lender.

Have you been to Citezens advice? They are fab here.

Easier said then done but save what you can now.

Other than that, try not to stress as with the right plan your chances of getting it are lower. If you are taking medication first day of delivery like I did, if you do get pp again it should be milder and perhaps manageable at home as the mental health team will already be aware and act quickly.

My consultant said to me that if I got pp second time, which I didn’t, it’s never as bad because they have all the info on what treatment works and know what it is straight away xx

[Mims2014 in reply to Mims2014]

Ps. Credit union loan might be a good back up idea x

[Meridyth Volunteer]

Hi Jessi_D

We have found the financial implications of PP really hard. We are both self employed and rely on us both working. Luckily the year I was ill my husband had a 12 month contract so we had some money we could rely on and because we get tax credits we employed a nanny two days a week to help. The financial impact is on going for us as it took me a long time to gain the confidence to work in the ways that I had before. We have relied on benefits when we have needed them (such as housing benefit) Someone gave me this leaflet which I found useful

mind.org.uk/information-sup...

Do you have a CPN or Carr co-ordinator (im presuming you are in the UK) I found my CPN was great at helping me find out what benefits I was eligible for. You can also talk to your bank about putting things in place for if you do get PP.

Hopes this helps

Meridyth x

[Meridyth Volunteer in reply to Meridyth]

I did find this citizensadvice.org.uk/benef...

[Jessi_D]

Thanks,

If needed, we’ll talk with the bank about temporarily moving mortgage to interest only. I think personal loans are problematic, as they have repayments (at a time when income is low), and could be paying interest on money not yet needed.

We weren’t eligible for any benefits last time (even though we pay thousands in tax and NI, and are both British), so not sure CAB or Care Co-ordinater can help, but we should check in case something has changed.

We seem to have more immediate financial downside compared to others, not having retired parents nearby to help out.

Meridyth - sorry to hear that PP has had a long term impact on your income. I’d hope that my income protection would help me if my illness impacted my ability to work long-term. But I don’t really know how good they are with claims relating to mental health!

Mims - I’d hope if I get PP again, it won’t be as bad. But I remember different doctors trying so many different medications on me last time, it took around six months for me to recover enough to go home. I’m concerned this will happen again.

Helen - my husband will talk to his work, but he says there’s no HR policy for this situation. Fully paid leave would be at management discretion, so he’s hoping on some ‘gentleman’s agreement’. I think a lot of good will is involved - his time in service, performance etc.

[Meridyth Volunteer]

Hi Jessie_D

You sound way more organised than I was second time round! I was wondering the other day about what gov benefits would be avaliable if you were very poorly from PP and unable to work for a while, I wonder if anyone else knows about this?

I actually find your very inspiring that you are being so thoughtful in planning for after the birth of your second child

Meridyth x

[boat1]

If ur partner had time off couldn't you claim ESA . Then get tax credits and childcare component. Also rather than stressing over money take it easy , sort it medication plan for after baby. Get adequate rest. I tuk quetiapine short term to relax and sleep. Not sure if that's suitable for you. Plus had lithium . Epidural which was planned was a big help as the prolonged pain of labour was a trigger for me. That time I didn't relapse. This time I'm planning to start lithium third trimester to be extra cautious. You will need help with night feeds childcare arrange before. Hospital shud keep in you in for extra nights and give you a senior midwife

[Jessi_D in reply to boat1]

Hi Boat1,

Last time labour wasn’t too bad, only needed gas and air.

I’m going to take lithium and haloperidol from 32 weeks, so being cautious on that front.

My husband plans to do night feeds, as well as give me plenty of rest during the day in the first six weeks before he goes back to work (he’ll have some respite from postnatal doula who will help with days or nights).

I don’t think state benefits are an option because we have high income/outgoings - unless we can think of another way, we’d have to borrow money or in worst case scenario sell our home. We’ve lots of pension savings, but these aren’t accessible.

Our savings are low because we bought a house a couple of years ago - which we hope will give us stability we didn’t have when our first was born. Due to water dripping through the bedroom ceiling and mould growing, and a landlord that didn’t take action to resolve (stressful dispute I dealt with when my husband returned to work), we ended up moving into hotel with our newborn... from there I was admitted to A&E with psychosis.

[boat1]

Can't you arrange a loan or use credit cards. But if income drops I think you can claim some things like tax credits

[Jessi_D in reply to boat1]

Yes, debt is the plan unless we can think of anything else that would help (e.g. reducing mortgage to interest only temporarily). It’s the unexpected childcare costs that are a killer if the PP returns as severe (I was too risky for the MBU) and continues for months as it did last time.

[boat1 in reply to Jessi_D]

Find out bout tax credits childcare if you wud qualify or there are childcare vouchers ? Is it just one Child to look after

[boat1]

Do you have any thoughts about lithium is week 32 best to start I'm on week 25 no symptoms no medication

[Jessi_D in reply to boat1]

I’m not taking medication and am well at the moment (15 weeks). My perinatal psychiatrist suggested lithium plus low dose of halperidol from 32 weeks. I was taking this when I started to recover from PP (after trying months of other antipsychotics). I think the idea would be to admit me to the MBU and increase the haloperidol if I get ill again.

[boat1]

I'm not really happy bout taking medication in preg last time I didn't just started after and was fine. But things more stressful this time with a toddler . I thought it was best to just have one meds in preg. But after take quetiapine plus lithium. It's hard to be sure of what will work. Besides prayer 😀

[boat1]

I am worried bout lithium levels and i heard it goes to baby but lithium generally safe after 26weeks