Birth of a Premature Child, Allowances and Benefits
A normal pregnancy lasts 38-40 weeks. A premature baby is a baby born after the 22nd but before the 37th full week of pregnancy. Birth is the event of a child being delivered, after at least 22 weeks of pregnancy or when the child’s birth weight is over 500 grams. In addition to the duration of pregnancy, the birth weight and maturity of the newborn are taken into account. The birth weight of premature babies is usually less than 2500 grams and their length is less than 46 cm. In addition to premature babies, there may also be full-term babies whose growth has stopped during pregnancy. When assessing the development of newborns born before the 33rd week of pregnancy, the so-called “corrected age” is used, i.e. the weeks by which the child was born earlier are subtracted.
Grants and benefits
In the case of a premature baby, the same rules apply to the payment of family benefits as in the case of a child born at full term. Read more about benefits, paternity benefits and benefits.
One favourable exception in the case of a child born before the 34th week of pregnancy is the possibility for parents to be on parental leave at the same time and receive parental benefits for up to 60 days. At the same time, the total period of payment of parental allowance will not be reduced by more than 30 days.
The national childbirth allowance of 320 euros per child also applies to a premature child. Several Estonian municipalities also pay a childbirth allowance when a child is born. Ask for information about the childbirth allowance from your local city’s municipality government, as the amounts of the childbirth allowance and the application processes of the municipalities can be different. For example, the childbirth allowance offered in Tallinn, which does not depend on income, can be applied for in the self-service environment for applying for universal allowances in Tallinn.
To receive a local government childbirth allowance, it is usually a prerequisite that at least one of the child’s parents must be registered in the same municipality at least six months to a year before the child is born.