Maternity Leave and Miscarriage: What Are the Provisions and How Early Can It Start?

I need to understand the below queries related to the Maternity Act.

How early can maternity leave be taken?

What happens when someone takes early maternity leave but ends up with a miscarriage? What are the provisions?

Hi, Depending on whether the woman is expecting her first or subsequent child, she can take up to a maximum of 26 weeks off for her maternity leave, with up to 8 weeks off before delivery. However, it is not compulsory that the leave should start from 8 weeks before childbirth. The employee can take the entire 26 weeks from the day on which the employee gave birth to her baby.

In the case of miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy, an employee is entitled to six weeks of paid miscarriage leave under the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017.

Leave Entitlement in Case of Stillbirth

The maximum leave prior to childbirth is 8 weeks. Suppose that she has taken leave accordingly. However, while on leave, a stillbirth occurs instead of a miscarriage. A miscarriage refers to the loss of a fetus before the 26th week of pregnancy. Since she had taken 8 weeks off prior to the expected delivery date, the fetus would be around 30 or 32 weeks old. Therefore, this should be considered a delivery and the loss of a child, entitling her to 26 weeks of leave instead of just the 45 days typically available for a miscarriage.

Hi Sir, thank you for the information. Moreover, I wanted to know if there is any law limiting the number of times maternity leave can be taken for a miscarriage.

No, there is no mention of it. However, in order to be eligible for leave, the miscarriage should be natural or genuine, or within the meaning and scope of "expulsion of the contents of a pregnant uterus," and should not be any "miscarriage the causing of which is punishable under the Indian Penal Code."

It is presumed that in order to avoid any legal implications and to qualify for leaves as per the law, nobody would intentionally cause a miscarriage.