With the third trimester the final spurt begins. Birth and parental leave are no longer far away - planning is the order of the day.

In the last trimester, maternity protection begins for women in permanent employment and many self-employed persons who are covered by statutory health insurance. In addition there are some bureaucratic matters: There is no harm in filling in the application form for parental benefits now. Then you do not have to worry about it after the birth. Planning parental leave is also an important issue now.

What is important now is ongoing communication with your employer, because they also want to know how long they are planning parental leave. How you plan this and, above all, what the return to work should look like. There is an employment prohibition in principle 6 weeks before and 8 weeks after the birth applies. By the way: In contrast to the absolute ban on employment after the birth, you may work during the 6 weeks before the birth. However, only if you expressly agree to this, your employer cannot force you to do so. However, you can revoke this decision at any time if it becomes too strenuous or complications occur.