I’m now over halfway through my pregnancy and will be returning to work as a school nurse next month. One big thing on my mind? Prepping for maternity leave. Being a school nurse comes with unique logistics like prepping for a long-term sub, navigating the school calendar, and handling unpaid time off. I’m due on Thanksgiving, but as we all know, babies come on their own timeline! I’m anticipating starting leave in late November or early December and staying out through Spring Break. One of the biggest hurdles that many face when preparing for their maternity leave is their finances. In this post, I’m sharing how I’m financially preparing for maternity leave!

How I’m Financially Preparing for Maternity Leave

State Leave

I currently live in Texas, which does not have a paid family leave program. If you’re still in the early stages of pregnancy planning, you’ll want to understand how you may (or may not be) compensated on leave ahead of time. Leave compensation can significantly impact your finances during leave. 

As of now, only eight states offer paid family leave. These states are Washington, Oregon, California, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Each state’s program is a little different. Some offer partial wage replacement, and many have eligibility requirements, such as working a certain number of hours in the year before your leave. If you’re in one of these states, I recommend looking into your program early to see what compensation you may be eligible for and what steps are required to apply.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Since Texas does not offer paid leave, I’ll be taking 12 weeks of unpaid leave through  FMLA. This federal program applies to any public or private employer with 50 or more employees, as well as all public agencies and public or private elementary and secondary schools, regardless of size.

To be eligible, you must have worked at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months and been employed with the company for at least 12 total months. FMLA leave can be taken all at once or intermittently, but the total leave is still limited to 12 weeks.

Because I work at a school, any “built-in” breaks like holidays or school vacations do not count toward my FMLA leave. I’ll continue to be paid during those breaks, which will also extend the time I’m able to stay home with my baby. With this structure, I’ll be able to add three extra weeks to my leave.

Short-Term Disability

Short-term disability can be a helpful way to receive partial income during maternity leave. It’s an insurance benefit that provides partial wage replacement if you’re unable to work due to a medical condition that isn’t job-related, including pregnancy and childbirth.

Most plans provide:

• 6 weeks of partial pay for a vaginal delivery

• 8 weeks for a cesarean section

• Additional time if there are complications

Payouts typically range from 50% to 70% of your income, depending on your plan. Some employers cover the cost of short-term disability premiums, while others may require employees to pay monthly for coverage.

If you’re planning to use short-term disability, it’s important to enroll before becoming pregnant. Some plans treat pregnancy as a pre-existing condition and may limit or exclude coverage. Enrollment is usually allowed:

• During open enrollment (typically once a year)

• When you are first hired

• After a qualifying life event (such as marriage or childbirth)

If your state does not offer paid family leave, I highly recommend looking into short-term disability coverage. Not all employers offer it, so be sure to review your benefits or talk to HR.

 

Employer Plans

Some employers offer paid maternity or paternity leave after the birth of a child. These benefits vary widely by company and are more common in the private sector. In some cases, the compensation can be up to 100% of your regular pay, which is a huge help!. If you’re unsure whether your company offers paid parental leave, this is something worth looking into.

Time to Save!

Once you have a clear idea of how much you’ll be compensated during maternity leave, it’s time to prepare and start saving. In my case, I’ll be receiving some income through short-term disability, but it won’t be close to my full paycheck and will only cover a portion of the time I plan to take off. My husband will receive his full salary, but is will only be taking two months off with me after our baby is born.

Emergency Fund

Since we were able to plan before starting a family, one of our biggest goals was to build an emergency fund. A general rule of thumb is to save between 3- 6 months of expenses in an emergency fund. After calculating our expenses, we decided to save around 6 months worth of expenses. We’re hoping we won’t need to touch it during leave, but it gives us peace of mind knowing it’s available in case of an emergency.

Savings

Another major goal during my pregnancy was to save for a family fund. Our goal is $10,000 to help with baby-related expenses, medical bills, and to cushion us while our income is reduced.

To estimate how much we needed to save, we reached out to our insurance provider. We were quoted around $10,000 total for a typical vaginal delivery, including prenatal care, delivery, hospital stay, and postnatal care. About $2,500 will be paid through a payment plan with my doctor, and we expect to be billed the remaining $7,500 after delivery. Having this fund will help us cover those costs without needing to stress about bills during our first weeks with the baby.

Lowering Expenses and Budgeting

In addition to saving, we also looked for ways to cut costs ahead of time. We paid off my husband’s student loans, sold unused items on Facebook Marketplace, and reviewed our monthly expenses to find areas where we could save. This included canceling subscriptions and reducing non-essential spending.

While we could live on my husband’s income alone if needed, it wouldn’t leave much room for savings or investing. During our leave, we plan to pause most of our usual contributions to savings and investments so we can focus on staying financially stable.

How I’m Preparing Financially for Maternity Leave

Preparing for maternity leave, especially when it is mostly unpaid, takes planning and flexibility. It can be overwhelming! There is a lot of new information, especially if you are a first-time parent. Everyone has different finances and incomes, so a different strategy may work better for you. I hope sharing my approach gives you some ideas on ways to financially prepare for maternity leave as you plan for your own.

Thanks for reading! As always, you can find me on Instagram @maddie_deer here. You can also follow me on my Facebook page to be alerted of any new posts here. If you have any questions or tips for preparing financially for maternity leave, I would love to hear from you in the comments or my DMs! 🙂