My mum died 10 days ago, after a 9 year battle with cancer. It all happened quickly and she deteriorated so fast that I wasn’t able to tell her I was pregnant whilst she was ‘awake’. I told her when she was medicated on morphine, so she couldn’t respond but I hope she could hear me and was happy.
I feel utterly heartbroken that my incredible mum won’t be part of my pregnancy or ever meet my baby 
The tricky part is… I was given 2 weeks paid bereavement leave by my employer, and told I can take up to 3 months off sick (paid) which would take me into the new year. The thing is, I need to inform work that I’m pregnant by 15th January 2027. We’re a small team and they heavily rely on me so I already feel guilty for having time off now, knowing I’ll also be going on mat leave in 6 months time.
I’m definitely not ready to return to work any time soon as I’m grieving and processing the pregnancy side of things too, especially in the lead up to Christmas which is going to be tough.
I suppose I’m just looking for advice, words of wisdom, people to share their thoughts & experiences. Do I return to work in December so that I can tell my employer and have 4 months to catch up/do a handover? Should I inform work of the pregnancy but remain off sick as long as I need?