People are shocked by how much maternity leave Toni Street wants to take - and she can't believe why

Toni Street's baby boy is due in August, and we can't wait for him to arrive.

He will be Toni's third little one, but the first she is having via surrogate.

And of course, with a new baby comes the decision of how much maternity leave to take.

Toni revealed that she was shocked at how genuinely surprised people were when she told them she would probably take the rest of the year off work to look after her newborn.

• READ MORE: Why Toni is freaking out a having a THIRD baby

"I just feel like that it is a sad day that people are surprised that you might take 6 months," Toni said, "because I feel like if you want to spend 6 months with your precious newborn that should be a good thing and it shouldn't be against the norm".

She went on to say that compared to how things were 5-10 years ago, it seems the trend these days that women - especially for career women - are expected to get back to it as soon as possible.

Even Prime Minister Jacinda Arden - who is due to give birth next month - has decided to only 6 weeks away from her post.

Is the pressure we put on new mums to get back to work too much? Or is it just that it's actually unaffordable to be away from the job too long?

Whatever the reason, Toni says it's OK for mothers to choose to stay home or go back to work whenever they feel ready, but says she would "hate for people to feel pressured into going back when they could afford to stay on maternity leave and they want to stay longer.

"Because [6 months or more] is seen as the luxury option now, 'cause it just isn't."