NI17A - A guide to Maternity Benefits
Maternity Allowance (MA)
When MA is paid
Unless your baby is born earlier you cannot get any MA until 11 weeks before the week the baby is due but only if you stop work before then. If you continue to be employed or self-employed there is some flexibility as to exactly when the payments start, and you can choose the date depending on when you stop work. There are some circumstances when MA must start.
The Maternity Allowance Period
The payment period for MA is called the Maternity Allowance Period or MAP. MA can be paid for a continuous period of up to 39 weeks.
Working out your MAP
Unless your baby is born prematurely the earliest your MAP can start is 11 weeks before the week your baby is due.
Your MAP will start at the earliest date if, at the start of the 11th week before the week in which your baby is due, any one of the following applies to you:
- you have already given up work as an employed or self-employed person or
- you are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) (this will stop when MA starts) or
- you are no longer employed or self-employed but are claiming Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)
(Exceptionally, if your baby is born prematurely, more than 11 weeks before it was due, your MAP will start earlier. See ‘Premature births’.)
Changes that will affect the start date of your MAP
If at the start of the 11th week before your baby is due any one of the following applies:
- you are still working as an employed or a self-employed person or
- you are getting Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from your employer or
- you have not yet given up your job but are claiming Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance
you can chose to start your MAP later once you have stopped work to have your baby.
You can chose the date you want your MAP to start. This may be any day of the week. If you qualify for maternity leave from your employer the start date of your MAP will be the same day as the day your maternity leave begins.
But if your baby is born before the date you told your employer you were going to stop work, your MAP will start from the day following the day you gave birth.
If you are absent from work wholly or partly because of your pregnancy on or after the beginning of the 4th week before your EWC the rules below apply.
Absence from work due to pregnancy in the 4 weeks before the week your baby is due
An absence, wholly or partly because of your pregnancy, will trigger the start of your MAP if you are absent from work for a pregnancy-related reason on or after the start of the 4th week before the week your baby is due. Your MAP will then start automatically from the day following the first complete day you are absent from work for a pregnancy-related reason in that 4 week period.
Baby born late
If your baby is born later than the week in which it was due, your MAP will not change if it has already started. If you continue to work beyond the date your baby is due and you give birth, your MAP will start the day following the day your baby was born.
Premature births
If your baby is born prematurely, your MAP may or may not be affected, depending on how premature the birth is.
If your baby is born prematurely after your MAP has started, nothing will change.
If your baby is born before your MAP was due to start, your MAP will start from the day following the day on which your baby was born.
Twins or multiple births
If you are expecting more than one baby, your entitlement to MA is exactly the same as if you were expecting only one.
Stillbirths
Even if your baby survives only for an instant it is a live birth and you will still be entitled to MA if you qualify for it.
If your baby is stillborn earlier than the 25th week of your pregnancy you will not be able to get MA. But you may be able to get Statutory Sick Pay from your employer or Incapacity Benefit from Jobcentre Plus.
If your baby is stillborn after the start of the 25th week of your pregnancy, you are entitled to the same MA you would have got if your baby had been born alive.