Hello,

I have been offered a funded PhD studentship due to start in October. It's an amazing opportunity and although I'm feeling nervous I can see how this could be a tremendous experience.

Before applying for this studentship my boyfriend (of 10 years) and I decided to start trying for our first baby soon. I'm 33. I was not expecting my PhD application to be successful and felt I couldn't turn the chance down. However I don't want to wait 3 years to complete study and then start trying. I'm getting worried about how the next few years will work out.

The PhD is history/archive based research. I've read a lot of forum posts about the challenges of maternity leave and lab-based PhDs, but what about PhDs where time might be more flexible? Can it work? Am I letting myself in for a world of stress? Or could the flexibility of the PhD work in my favour?

The research organisation offers funded maternity leave for 6 months at the full rate and a further 13 weeks at approx half the rate, which I think is generous.

I feel uncomfortable having accepted the PhD offer knowing there's a strong chance I'll need to take maternity leave sometime during it. But waiting until I'm finished isn't a good option.

Looking for any advice or similar experiences!