Maternity pay - miss out by days - will midwife amend due date on MATB1?

[HayleySteve95]

Hi, I am 19 weeks pregnant and have my 20 week scan on Thursday 2nd December. From my dating scan my due date is 21st April 2022 - however this is an IVF baby and the actual due date should be 26th April. To be entitled to higher rate maternity pay my due date needs to be 2nd May :( I am losing sleep over this and cannot afford to miss out on this maternity pay - I will lose out on nearly £4,000 and won't be able to afford very long off with my baby. Does anyone know when I will get given my MATB1 form? Do you think my midwife would put my due date as 2nd May instead to help me out, or will they refuse and put the due date of 21st April from my dating scan? It's really worrying me - any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I don't think the midwife is allowed to change the date, but if its one day, I'd be tempted to ask!

Oh no wait, its by almost 2 weeks you are asking, no they won't do that I'm sure!

Pretty sure they won't, isn't it a legal document/ form? There's such a big gap aswell

Please don't put the midwife in the position of asking them to lie for you.

So even your actual IVF date is not the date you need it to be? Of course your midwife can’t do that, it’s fraudulent! You can’t just pick a due date for legal paperwork like a matb1, I wouldn’t even bother asking!

Don’t put the midwife in that position by asking her to help commit fraud. You want her to change the date by 2 weeks!!

No, they won’t. It’s also the Sunday of the week your baby is due so it’s likely to be earlier still.

Not a chance a decent midwife would do this, they could lose their registration if they did this for you. If it was to the day of your ivf possibly but not to a random date way after your due date just to get maternity pay. It sucks, it really does suck, but there is nothing you can do.

You cannot ask the midwife that!

You can’t put the midwife in that position it’s not right. It’s a legal document that goes to HR and then to HMRC for the company to claim back the mat pay.

Won’t you qualify for maternity allowance? I missed out by weeks with my second and got maternity allowance instead.

The MATB1 is a legal document and employers are legally not permitted to pay SMP without it. So unfortunately I don’t think your midwife would be able to do this. I suppose you can ask but I think strictly speaking it would be fraud, especially as you know the real date is ahead of the date you need. I’m sorry that’s not the answer you want. Your employer may be willing to pay you the enhancement in the circumstances? The form gets issued after 20 weeks so next time you see your midwife after that. If the 20 week scan produces a different date they might be able to change it but they do go by the scan date and usually go by the 12 week scan unless it’s very out.

You’d be asking a health professional to help you commit fraud with all the risk associated with that and maybe lose her registration. It’a an awful position to put her in and not her responsibility. In the kindest way possible, if it is an ivf baby, couldn’t you have waited a cycle? Might not be this simple I don’t know how ivf works.

No your midwife cannot put your due date as 2nd May to "help you out".

Also if you ask the midwife to commit fraud she has the right to alert social services about you.

I'm a midwife and no I would not! I could lose my job career for lying on a legal document!

How is the date affecting your pay? Have you recently changed jobs or something

Don’t ask, your midwife could lose their job.

Even if the midwife did risk her job changing the date for you, if your baby is early, maternity will start from that date which could well be before 2nd May 2022...

I don't know much about ivf, but as the date you worked out from your treatment is also to early, surely you knew before you were pregnant that you would miss out on the mat pay. You should have either waited until your next cycle or budgeted based on lower mat pay, asking the midwife to commit fraud is not really an option.

I didn't think IVF due dates were ever changed, even after the dating scan. So I would think it stays as 26th regardless of what your scan measures. But if that's still not late enough for your mat pay then unfortunately I don't think there's anything anyone can do.

Absolutely no chance 🤣🤣🤣

Not a hope OP...looks like you need to make a budget now and save for your mat leave.

You cannot seriously be thinking of asking your midwife to help you commit fraud?

It doesn't matter how you dress it up - that is what you are considering doing.

I don't think it's fair to ask your midwife to change it, however frustrating the situation is. It's fraudulent, and she'd get into a lot of trouble if found out. Also, it probably wouldn't make any difference as mat leave starts when the baby's born (if you've not already started it at that point) and chances are yours won't be 2 weeks overdue.

Is it employer enhanced maternity pay? Statutory Maternity Pay? Or Maternity Allowance you're looking to claim?

There may be ways to meet the requirements for claiming without committing fraud.

Not a chance any respectable midwife will do that. It's fraud, and she would stand to be struck off. Don't put her in that position.