New maternity protection: Women benefit from extended deadlines after miscarriage
New maternity protection: Women benefit from extended deadlines after miscarriage
From June 1, 2025, a comprehensive reform of the Maternity Protection Act comes into force, which women address new rights after a miscarriage. In particular, women who suffer a miscarriage from the 13th week of pregnancy are entitled to maternity leave. As ZVW.de , affected women can take care of maternity protection from the 13th week to two weeks. This regulation ranges for up to eight weeks of maternity protection for miscarriages from the 20th week.
This legal change follows a draft law that was passed by the Federal Council on February 14, 2025. The Family Ministry estimates that around 90,000 pregnancies in Germany end with miscarriages, with around 84,000 of them appearing before the 12th week, for which there was no right to maternity protection. So far, these women have been forced to report sick to get time to recover.
new regulations in detail
The following protection periods apply with the new regulation: In the event of a miscarriage from the 13th week, it is up to two weeks of maternity protection, from the 17th week to six weeks and from the 20th week to eight weeks of maternity protection. However, women can also decide for themselves whether they want to work despite miscarriage if they expressly wish. Employers are not allowed to employ affected women during the defined protection periods, unless they agree to work. This supports the right to self-determination of the women concerned, such as bmfsfj.deThe regulations should not only apply to women dependent, but also for independent women who are legally insured and for soldiers. However, independent women with private health insurance remain excluded from these new regulations for the time being, whereby future steps are in prospect in order to include this group.
procedure and claim to services
In order to assert the entitlement to maternity benefits during the protective periods, women from the 13th week must present a medical certificate of miscarriage that documents the pregnancy week. Employers also have the option of returning costs for maternity protection via surcharge insurance U2, such as TK.de
The reform came overdue, since there have been no specific regulations for miscarriages that took place before the 24th week of pregnancy. This legislation brings important changes to offer women the necessary protection and support in difficult situations such as miscarriages.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Ort | Deutschland |
| Quellen | |