help! ive been misled!

Hi...
I was just wondering if anybody could help me with this... I am currently full time working for a bank, i was told by my manager that PAID materntiy leave doesnt start until your baby is born so the date your child is born. I also sent an email to my Regional manager asking for clarification of this as id heard different things off collegues. I only had 3 weeks annual leave up by the time my baby was due so i thought id take the 3 weeks off before im due then start the paid mat leave when the baby was born...
now since then (that was about 2 weeks ago) a part time job has come up, which means my leave doubles and my pay halves, so i thought ill take 6 weeks annual leave off before then just mat leave at half pay. i clicked accept on the offer this morning.
this afternoon my regional manager got back to me and told me you can start mat leave whenever you want so because i only have 3 weeks up i could take that and if i wanted to leave at 30 weeks id have 7 weeks paid mat leave before the baby arrives. then have 42 weeks unpaid leave...
i feel really misled by what my manager has told me and now ive accepted to go part time, i would have never done that if the information had of been correct in the first place. They have also offered my full time job to someone else already and theyve accepted it...
does anyone know if i can get my full time job back based on the fact i was provided with the wrong information?

I don't know hun, but personally I wouldn't want to start my maternity leave earlier. I would prefer to have more time off after the baby is born. But that's just me. Why don't you call the HR department and ask them? GL.

I've worked in the bank and I had a simular problem. I learnt that being firm with my manager worked rather then being upset and down.

If I were you id go to my manager and tell her my concerns about the situation and also let her know that the only reason you stepped down to part time work is due to the incorrect informatin she gave you. Tell her you have no desire to step down your current position and would like to know how SHE is going to fix the situation. She has a duty to be there for you as your manager. If that fails Id go above her head..even to the department that takes care of the positions ect.

I totally agree with MR - stay in your position for as long as you can...I worked up until 38 weeks, full time in my branch and was thankfull I didnt take maternity leave earlier oh and dont forget...make someone else carry all those dame coin bags

Thanks, yeah the only reason i want to take it earlier is because i wanted to spend some time with my son.

I did go to my manager this afternoon and i said to her that i only went part time because of the info she gave me and she pretty much said that she'll call around and that it will be hard because my job has already been offered to someone else and theyve accepted it. Ill call my Regional manager tomorrow morning and explain to her because it took her like 2 weeks to get back to me anyway...
our hr is useless i tried to call but the phone did a long beep everytime and then i was put on hold so dont know what happened there.

lol about the coin bags...