by Janina Waldmann
06 February 2025
Ah, to put your feet up in the final days of pregnancy, safe in the knowledge that your job is secure, your maternity leave payments are coming, and your only priority for the next few months is to take care of your tiny, precious new addition…
Unless, of course, you’re a freelancer.
In which case, the impending arrival of your baby is probably a mix of decisions, stress, and worry that you’ll lose clients. The good news is you’re far from the first freelancer to struggle with the juggle.
There are a couple of areas you’ll need to consider when it comes to freelancing with a baby. Let’s break them down.
Here’s where you’ll face one of the earliest big decisions – to tell your clients about your impending arrival or not. You might consider that it’s none of your clients’ business, but on the flip side, you might find they’re far more lenient and understanding than you anticipated.
“I actually only told one of my clients that I was having a baby, the vast majority weren’t aware”, explains Gemma, who has been freelancing as a copy and content writer for the past decade and whose youngest child turned one earlier this year.
Steph Underhill has been freelancing since she fell pregnant with her first son, Ivah, who is now five. “With my first baby I was super freaked out about telling people I was pregnant,” she says, worried about whether clients would perceive her as less reliable once she had a newborn on her hands.
By the time she was pregnant with her second son, Cillian, now 22 months, she was more experienced and confident that plenty of freelance work would be available in the future despite having to pass along work at the time.
Whichever path you decide to take, communicate with your clients. If you need time off, let them know well in advance. If you need to drop clients, offer to hand them over to another freelancer. Far from perceiving you as unreliable, your clients will appreciate the extra effort you’ve put in to ensuring their needs are met.
The reality is that until your baby is here, it’s hard to estimate accurately how much work you’ll be able to do.
In Gemma’s experience, being flexible with your time is key to surviving the freelance-baby juggle. “You just kind of have to be ready to pick up your tools and get to work as soon as you get an opportunity.”
She was fortunate enough to be blessed with a good sleeper. “I actually managed to get a lot done while his older sister was at daycare and I just put him in the carrier, had him sleeping on me while I worked away. Because he was a good sleeper I also wasn’t that sleep deprived,” says Gemma.
Steph was less fortunate in the sleep department. “I didn’t do any work in newborn times. I had no idea what was going on or who I was or what day of the week it was; it was just a blur,” she explains.
Your freelance network will be helpful if your experience is more like Steph’s. The Rachel’s List Gold Member Facebook Group is a great place to offload work you can’t get to.
As a freelancer, you’re entitled to the government’s parental leave payments, provided you’re not working during the timeframe for which you claim the payments. Your payments are considered income for tax purposes, but the government will generally withhold tax from your payments so you don’t need to worry about putting cash away for when the bill comes.
In addition to regular parental leave, you can apply for 30 flexible days. These don’t need to be taken in one continuous chunk but can be scattered over several weeks or months. They cover days you’re caring for your child rather than working and are perfect if your kiddo goes to daycare or is cared for by a family member some of the time.
It’s easy to let our financial habits fall by the wayside when we’re sleep-deprived, haven’t showered in days, and are frantically rushing towards a client deadline, but don’t drop the ball on your finances. Ask yourself these questions:
Freelancing with a new bub is nothing if not an adventure. Embrace the change, remember that it’s a phase that won’t last forever, and adjust your expectations, both with your clients and yourself.
Need a helping hand when your baby comes? Get access to the best network of freelancers around with a Rachel’s List Gold Membership.
