You have to ask your midwife for it, i never heard of it until i needed it to claim maternity pay which point i was like nearly 30 weeks.
Not even sure if I'll be seeing her again until I've seen my consultant so I'll give her a ring after my scan and see.
got mine at 24 weeks and this sounds awful but here they like to give in then as at 24 weeks it is classed as a baby (sorry no offence meant whatsoever) which is stupid as its a baby from word go week number 1. But anyways it was week 24,why do i always digress? Bex
Same here Bexxie, they won't give them out before 24 weeks as it's classed as a baby and not just a foetus...mad. Charm x
Yes Char, like the others have said, you generally get your MATB1 at 24 Weeks as thats when your baby becomes "Viable". After 24 Weeks if (God Forbid) anything happened to our babies we would still be eligible for Maternity leave etc....before then you aren't.
To be honest Char, you don't really need it before. You only need it so you can claim the relevent Maternity Pay/ SMP from your Employer/the Government and they don't process it before 24 weeks, so before then its worthless having. I can kind of see why, as someone who has experienced first Trimester miscarriages, I would have felt a fraud having Maternity leave and pay after each miscarriage as I recovered quickly physically and needed to go back to work to recover emotionally. But I suppose this is going to be one of those things that people feel differently about. As an employer I'm sure they would be well peeved if everyone who ever got pregnant could claim Maternity benefits regardless of outcome.
No I was more shocked at that thats how it works in there eyes ... I didn't know that basically. Didn't know you could still take MAT leave for those circumstances either. x
Yes, I know what you mean, but even in medical terms 24 weeks is what they class as "Viable". If a baby passes away before 24 weeks gestation they class it as a miscarriage, but after, a still birth. Seems mad doesn't it when there have been premature babies born younger that that and lived....
