Prenatal Leave
About Prenatal Leave
If you are pregnant, Paid Family Leave will provide you with up to two (2) weeks of paid leave to receive medical care related to your pregnancy. These 2 weeks can be used in 1-day periods when you need to miss work to attend prenatal medical appointments. You can take prenatal leave to:
- Attend prenatal check-up appointments with your doctor;
- Receive any kind of medical treatment related to your pregnancy;
- Visit a doctor for a diagnosis of a condition related to your pregnancy;
- Stay on bedrest because of conditions related to your pregnancy, if ordered by your doctor.
How to Apply for Prenatal Leave
You can apply using the online portal to receive payment for any days of work you had to miss in order to receive prenatal medical care. The Office of Paid Family Leave will be accepting prenatal leave claims with leave dates going back to October 1, 2021. This means that if you had to miss work for a prenatal medical appointment anytime after October 1, 2021, you can receive paid benefits for that day. Remember that you must miss a full day of work to receive benefits: you cannot perform any work on a day for which you receive Paid Family leave benefits.
You will have until May 31, 2022 to claim prenatal leave for dates going back to October 1, 2021. Starting in June 2022, you will only be able to apply for more recent appointment dates.
After You Give Birth
Paid Family Leave is here for you during the entire length of your pregnancy and beyond. As a pregnant person, you can receive 2 weeks of paid leave to attend prenatal medical appointments and then, after you have your baby, you can receive another 8 weeks of paid leave to bond with your child. This means you can receive a total of 10 weeks of paid leave around the birth of your baby. Your partner can also take 8 weeks of paid leave to bond with your baby after birth! But they cannot receive benefits for your prenatal medical appointments—prenatal leave is just for you as a pregnant person.
What You Need to Apply
If you are currently pregnant and have taken or will take leave from work to attend prenatal medical appointments, you can expect to receive benefits for those days. If you were pregnant and took leave to receive prenatal medical care anytime after October 1, 2021, you can expect to receive benefits for that leave too. To begin the process, have your doctor complete the Prenatal Medical Certification form. You will need to upload this form during the claim process.
Click here to download the Prenatal Medical Certification form.
Then, go to our online portal to file your claim
After You Apply
Once you file a prenatal leave claim, you will be able to easily request payment for more dates of leave that you take to attend prenatal medical appointments during the full length of your pregnancy. We will accept any of the following documents to show that you attended more appointments after you already submitted a claim:
- Medical visit slips from your prenatal appointments
- Visit summary documents from your health care provider
- Letter from your doctor’s office showing the dates you received the prenatal medical care
- If it’s easier for you, an updated prenatal medical certification form