Maternity allowances are paid to the working woman who took a birth and parenthood period of leave, and are intended to compensate her salary loss during her leave period at the occasion of the pregnancy and birth.
Conditions of entitlement
The pregnant mother (surrogate) can be entitled to maternity allowance like any other new mother, in accordance with the conditions of entitlement.
Maternity allowance eligibility period
According to the qualifying period you have accrued (months of payment of national insurance contributions), your period of entitlement to maternity allowance is determined:
- To the maximum maternity allowance for 15 weeks (105 days of eligibility) - you will be entitled if you have paid national insurance contributions on 10 months out of the 14 months preceding the day you stopped working, or for 15 months out of 22 months.
- To the partial maternity allowance for 8 weeks (56 days of eligibility) - you will be entitled if you have paid national insurance contributions on 6 months out of the 14 months preceding the day you stopped working.
The first day of eligibility is determined according to the day you stopped working, however not prior to 53 days since the date of childbirth if you are entitled to the maximum maternity allowance, or 28 days if you are entitled to the partial maternity allowance.
Please note that the earliest time you can submit a claim for maternity allowance is 9 weeks before the estimated date of birth.
Submitting a claim
Claim form for maternity allowance to surrogate mother (BL/356) - must be submitted within 12 months of the day the child was received in the intended parents' care.
You may submit the claim along with required documents, directly to the branch in your home area, through the website's online documents delivery service.
Maternity allowance amount
To learn more about the calculation of maternity allowance, click here.
Please note that after childbirth it is advised to check your eligibility for payment of differentials on the maternity allowances you have received. To learn more, click here.
Extension and split of eligibility period for maternity allowance
In some cases, one may be entitled to extend the duration of birth and parenthood leave and to receive additional maternity allowances during the extension.
Please note that the surrogate mother will not be entitled to an extension of her birth and parenthood leave due to the hospitalization of the newborn.
For further details, click here.
For more information about childbirth allowance - click here.