Your maternity leave

How to benefit from maternity leave ?

You are working as an employee:

In order to claim your daily allowance for maternity leave, you need to:

- have been registered with the Assurance Maladie as an employee for at least 6 months prior to the expected date of childbirth;
- have worked at least 150 hours as an employee during the three calendar months or 90 days preceding the maternity leave, from the date of the start of pregnancy or the start of antenatal leave (or from the actual date of childbirth if this occurs before the date of the start of antenatal leave), or from the date of cessation of activity OR have paid contributions on a salary at least equal to 1015 times the value of the hourly minimum wage (“SMIC”) during the six calendar months preceding the beginning of the pregnancy or the beginning of the antenatal maternity leave (or from the actual date of childbirth if this occurs before the beginning of the antenatal maternity leave) or from the date of cessation of activity.

Please note that your employer must send an “attestation de salaire” to your CPAM, with the mention of the last working day. This “attestation” will also allow CPAM to calculate the amount of your maternity leave based on your most recent salaries.

You are self-employed:

If you are self-employed, you have to completely stop working for at least 8 weeks (including 6 weeks after delivery). If you are eligible, you may receive a lump-sum called “allocation forfaitaire de repos maternel”, the first half before the delivery, and the second one after. You may also be eligible for a daily allowance, as detailed below.
You need to declare your work stoppage to your CPAM using the forms attached in the booklet for pregnant self-employed workers available on ameli.fr. This booklet will also provide you with useful information regarding maternity and paternity.
If you are in any other situation, please get in touch with your CPAM for a personalised analysis of your situation.

How much is my maternity leave going to be ?

You are working as an employee:

To get a quick estimate of your daily benefits, use the simulator available on ameli.fr.
After the first payment done by your CPAM, your daily benefits will be paid every 14 days, for each day of your maternity leave (including Saturdays, Sundays, and bank holidays). Keep all of your daily benefits statements alongside your pay slips.

You are self-employed:

To know the amount of daily benefits you can claim, you can read an article on the ameli.fr website named “Les prestations maternité des travailleuses indépendantes et des conjointes collaboratrices”.

To sum up, if you are eligible, you may receive a lump-sum called “allocation forfaitaire de repos maternel”, as well as daily benefits.

The “allocation forfaitaire de repos maternel” is paid in two instalments:

-   half of the amount at the beginning of the maternity leave;
-   half of the amount at the end of the mandatory leave (8 weeks).

Duration of your maternity leave

According to your situation:

- You are expecting one child and you do not already have children/and you already have one child: 16 weeks, including 6 before delivery and 10 after;
- you are expecting one child and you already have two or more (children already in your care or born viable) : 26 weeks, including 8 before delivery and 18 after delivery ; or 10 before and 16 after with no medical justification;
- you are expecting twins: 34 weeks, including 12 before delivery. The prenatal period can be extended to a maximum of 16 weeks, with postnatal rest reduced by the same amount;
- you are expecting triplets or more : 46 weeks, including 24 before delivery and 22 after.

To know more about the duration of your maternity leave, you can read an article on the ameli.fr website named “Durée du congé maternité”.

Have a nice day.