======= Date Modified 15 Jan 2011 16:07:51 =======
Hi friends, please help me.
I am a prospective international PhD student. I am 28 yr old, completed my Ms and worked for 2 years .Planning for phd now at USA. Me and my partner  willing to have a baby, but not now but after 2 years. Am I supposed to get maternity leave if I am at my 2 nd year of my Phd.I am worried that if I  delay my baby to the time I finish my phd,it would be too late, I might not conceive. I am keen doing Phd,so can I apply for maternity leave after 2 yrs I join Phd.Guys please help me, I really need ur valuable opinion

You should definitely be able to take some reasonable length of time out from your PhD. If you're asking about maternity pay, then that's a different issue and depends on how you're being funded/paid (if you are), you'd need to check with the funding body and maybe with your university to find out how they handle it. There's Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance in the UK, though I'm not sure if they're applicable to you being overseas student.

I would say though, you're only in your 20s and it probably won't be too late after you've finished your PhD! (unless you have some particular medical reason to think so?) Lots of women have their first baby in their 30s and even early 40s these days, though I agree it's best not to wait too long.