has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

for my job you get 6 wks for vaginal birth, 8 wks for csection however, you can take up to 12 weeks if medically necessary. i had a vaginal birth.
not for nothing, i tore a little and had a very long labor and delivery.

i am noticing my midwife has been very "by the book" if you catch my drift about extending my maternity leave.
it doesnt look like she will "sign"me out for 12 wks unless it is medically necessary. i go back in a few weeks for my 6 wk evaluation with her so we will see....i still have a few issues going on down there so.. we'll see.

anyone experience this? or has your dr. been very liberal with signing you out as much as you need.

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

I didn't have to get anything signed at my job and I took 12 weeks. 8 of them were paid by my employer.

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

My company has the same policy as you I think. We get 8 weeks paid for c-section and 6 weeks paid for vaginal. I had a c-section and took 12 weeks because of the FMLA (info below) but was only paid for 8 weeks the other 4 were unpaid. Could it be that they will only pay you for 6 weeks but you can take 12 if you want?


Family and Medical Leave Act

Covered employers must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons:

for the birth and care of the newborn child of the employee;
for placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care;
to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or
to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

Message edited 1/20/2009 1:17:54 PM.

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

Your doctor only signs off the disability portion of your leave..the part that pays you for being out for 6 or 8 weeks. If you meet the above criteria, you get 12 weeks total whether or not your doctor agrees.

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

As the posters above stated, the 6 - 8 weeks is for paid disability and your midwife will have to sign off on that. After 6 weeks for a vaginal delivery, according to your company's policy, you fall under FMLA coverage. This is not disability but rather an unpaid leave for the care of yourself and/or child which protects your employment at the company.

If you are looking for your midwife to sign your paperwork you are basically asking that she extend your disability and while that might be an option if necessary...if not medically evident she can't falsify that document.

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

I might be wrong here but I think that legally - if there are no complications- a doctor can only sign you out for 6 weeks or 8 weeks. The 12 weeks is FMLA and you are entitled to 6 weeks unpaid (since you had a vaginal birth) unpaid. This is not considered disability but FMLA. You can take this time to care for a new child.

You would, although, not be entitled to FMLA if you work for a company that employs less than 50 people. Do you have a handbook? Do you have an HR person that can explain this to you?

I worked in HR and there is always a lot of confusion around this subject. You can FM me and I can try to help you.

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

the 6 or 8 weeks is disability. The other is family medical leave act and I don't think you need to be signed out for that.

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

see, my hr person is saying that i can get paid passed the 6 wks..i dont know, this is all so confusing! ahh!!
i will try to look more into this!!
tia!!

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

Message edited 1/20/2009 1:57:12 PM.

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

I had to get my Dr to sign a release saying I was capable to go back to work on a specific day. After that specific day my unpaid FMLA started. My company did not want to see me until I was "released" from my Dr.'s care.

If your Dr/midwife feels you need further recovery (past the 6 weeks) you will get paid for those days as disablility. If you are having a normal recovery she will probably release you at 6 weeks.

ETA:
After your Dr "releases" you then have the choice to stay home for the extra time (no more then 12 weeks all together) unpaid. You may have to write a letter of request stating this need and the date you expect to start work. FMLA requires the company to hold your position for that time. If you go back later they can have the option to give you a different position.

Message edited 1/20/2009 2:21:12 PM.

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

If it's not medically necessary for you to be out for more than 6 weeks, then she's giving you the max time.

You can take the full 12 weeks (if eligible for FMLA) but the last 6 weeks will not be paid by disability.

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

I agree with the other posters. You cannot get more than 6 weeks for a vaginal delivery unless there were medical complications that required more healing time. 6 weeks is what ST Disability pays for. The 12 weeks is FMLA.

I took 12 weeks. 6 paid by ST Disability, 6 unpaid. Then I took 1 week of vacation afterwards.

If your Dr lies and says you need 12 when you don't, that is insurance fraud and they could lose their medical license if caught. I don't think their being stingy by not giving you 12.

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

Re: has your dr. /midwife been stingy with giving you max allowed time for maternity leave?

She would have to come up with a pretty big LIE. You can't just get disability past 6 weeks for a vaginal birth or 8 weeks for a c-section. And it's not "well, I am not healed well yet" or "I think she needs more time". It has to be documented for a specificic detailled medical reason.

If your company fits under the criteria of FMLA, then you can qualify to extend to a total of 12 weeks (6 week for the vaginal delivery already included). You would not be paid for the extended time after you initial 6 weeks on disability but you can take time off. Of course, if you have time off, sick time, etc... they could apply it to your FMLA time so you would not completely unpaid.

We all wished we had been paid after the 6 or 8 weeks depending on the delivery, but I would not risk an insurance fraud with disability just because I want to stay home longer.