pregnant and in debt

I lost my business in febuary 09.I appraoched the bank immediatly regarding any outstanding monies owed .I had personally gaurented some of my loans.I owe €30k which I pay €635 back per month.I work full time and earn €30k which is just over €2k a month.I have an 18month old child and when I pay the bank and the child minder I have about €250 to do me for the month.My partner pays for EVERYTHING ELSE.I am 8months into a a5 year agreement.We have our home up for sale in hope that we will get enough to pay off the loans and place a min deposit on another house. I have just forund out I am pregnant.
I will only be in receipt of maternity benifit when I have the child.
Am I expected to hand that over to the bank?and when the 6 months are over i am supposed to go back to work,but
How am I to continue to pay the bank in the future If I can't cover the childcare for two kids.
can anyone give me advice or direction on what to do? i'm stressing about returning to work already and i'm only a couple of weeks pregnant.
appreciate any reasonable imput

congratulations on your pregnancy.

I would suggest that your bank will, in your circumstances, be open to a further rescheduling of your debt for the months you are on maternity leave.

Remember that while you are on maternity leave, you won't have childcare costs for your toddler. When your maternity leave is up, the older child will two and a half - so you will have quite high childcare costs for a year or so. Then your eldest child should qualify for the free scheme that should reduce your costs a bit. In addition, as you won't be using all your tax credits for 2011 (as maternity benefit isn't taxable) you shouldn't have any income tax on your salary for the few remaining months of the year when you return to work.

It would be more beneficial if, your partner was able to use some of your tax credits and lower rate band next year. So, if you are planning to marry anyway, you'd be better off financially to do it this year.

When you get back to work, hopefully, things will be picking up a bit and there will be pay increases. Think about what, exactly, your expected income and outgoings will be over the next two years, work out what you will need to live on and go back to your bank. You still have a job. You are paying them off. It is in their interests to give you another bit of leeway.

I know it is really hard not to worry, but please don't let let your financial situation spoil what should be a happy time. You are going to have a lovely age gap between your children and although it will be tough going, you've a great time ahead of you.

good luck.

Don't forget as well that you'll have the additional child benefit once Number 2 arrives.

hey you guys!thanks for getting back to me.ITS ALL POSITIVE,and i really appreciate you imput.When does my child qualify for the free chilcare.She is not due to start school till she almost 5,so that luxury is a good time away.
I am not stressing as such... just trying to plan ahead before i get the dreaded baby brainand see what my options are.I had just had my first little one two months before i lost my business so i had to immediatly start looking for and start a new job, as I had been self employed and wasn't entilted to social welfare.I suppose I feel a little cheated out on that special time with her and here I find myself in the same predicument of losing time with my next in order to pay the bank(as I wouldn't have to work full time otherwise i'd get away with part time).We have stuggles since it all happened but i would never let that get in the way of having a family as i know things will get better but our time to have a family is limited.If anyone has the winning lotto numbers you can PM me!

there's a link here to determine when your child will get the free pre-school place.

Oh, and if you do manage to sell your house, you should consider renting for a while. It can work out cheaper and you may have difficulty with a mortgage while you are still repaying the business loans.

HI Nige,Thanks again.The reason we have our house up for sale is in hope we can clear the loan.If we can't do that and place down a deposit on a new place we won't be selling!Otherwise we are under no pressure to sell,I have put my partner under enough pressure as it is.lol