The offer for maternity parental benefit and the related maternity leave is made to the expectant mother by the Sotsiaalkindlustusamet (Social Insurance Board).

For working mothers (mothers who are in an employment relationship before the expected date of birth), the Social Insurance Board receives information about the expected date of birth from the healthcare provider (a doctor or a midwife). Based on this information, it is determined whether the mother is entitled to maternity leave and maternity parental benefit before the birth of the child or from the date of birth.

For a working mother, the offer for maternity parental benefit is made 80 days before the expected date of birth.

For non-working mothers (mothers who do not have an employment relationship before the expected date of birth), the offer for maternity parental benefit is made after the child is born and the birth is registered in the population register, together with other family benefits to which the mother is entitled.

Please note: The Social Insurance Board sends a notification about the offer available in the self-service environment to the mother’s email address. Make sure that your email address is valid and up to date in the Social Insurance Board’s self-service system.

Maternity parental benefit usually stops when the child reaches the age of 30 days, or when the maximum number of days of maternity benefit, i.e. 100 consecutive calendar days, is reached.

Example: a child is born in the 42nd week of pregnancy. Since the mother's parental benefit is determined by the expected date of birth of the child, the child is actually two weeks younger than 30 days when the mother's parental benefit ends. However, maternity benefit cannot be paid for more than 100 days.

In the case of a child born before the due date, the mother's parental benefit will stop when the child reaches the age of 100 days.

Only people working under a public service contract or employment contract are entitled to maternity leave. For the duration of maternity leave, the contract is suspended and the woman on maternity leave should take a break from work. However, if a woman on maternity leave has, for example, additional work to her employment or public service contract, which she does under a contract of obligation (craft contract), she can continue to do this work and earn an income from it.

It also happens that an employer decides to pay a bonus to a person on maternity leave for an earlier period. If the bonus is paid for work done before the start of the maternity leave, the employer may also transfer the money to the person on maternity leave. If necessary, the employer should be prepared to provide the Social Insurance Board with additional proof that the income subject to social tax was earned before the maternity leave period.

A working mother is entitled to up to 100 consecutive calendar days of parental benefit, taking into account the expected date of birth of the child. A working mother can claim maternity benefit up to 70 calendar days before the expected date of birth of the child and 30 calendar days after the expected date of birth of the child.

A mother who does not have a valid employment relationship before the expected date of the child's birth can receive maternity benefit for 30 consecutive calendar days from the birth of the child.

N.B. It is up to the working mother to decide when she wishes to start using her parental benefit and, in this context, to take maternity leave from her employer.