Apply for maternity benefit

Women who are members of the statutory health insurance and are entitled to sickness benefit or who are not paid wages because of the maternity periods, apply for maternity benefit for the period of protection (six weeks before and eight weeks after the birth) from their health insurance. The employer then pays the difference to the net pay per calendar day as a supplement. The applications are usually available on the health insurers' homepage.

Women who are not themselves members of the statutory health insurance (privately insured as well as family-insured) and who are in an employment relationship at the beginning of the protection period (this also includes marginal employment) apply for a one-off payment via the maternity benefit office of the Federal Insurance Office.