Maternity leave in Switzerland

Maternity leave in Switzerland, what can you expect? I was on maternity leave for 6 months. Paid leave, unpaid leave, holidays,.. I am back to work for a week now, and it is so hard! I have started the adaptation phase where my little one goes the the daycare a few hours per day. Apparently she is dealing very fine with it. But on the contrary, I am a wreck. I don’t remember I felt so bad when I went back to work for my first baby (shhhh don’t tell her). But I do miss both my girls. My big girl was on holiday for 4 weeks so we have spent a lot of time together and that was very nice and I started to get used to their schedule at the end of it.

What maternity leave can you expect ?

• You are most of the time followed by your ob-gyn. If you don’t have one, find one! ask your friends, relatives, colleagues, colleagues’s wives…
• Usually you have a follow-up appointment per month. So you see your baby almost every month starting month #2 or #3. This is the case except if your obgyn is at the hospital. Then you’ll probably have only 3 echographies during your pregnancy.
• Everything is reimbursed by basic health insurance, except if you intend to deliver your baby in a private clinic (I will write another post about my experiences in both a private clinic and a big university hospital here in Switzerland)
• If you need to stop working before the delivery, you’re considered as sick (sick leave policy prevails then).
• Your maternity leave starts the day your baby is born. Legally it last 16 weeks, during which you are paid 80% during 14 weeks. After 14 weeks, you can choose to go back to work or stay at home for another 2 weeks. Some companies offer better conditions than that. Check your working contract or your working policy. Sometimes you can have another month of leave if you are breastfeeding.
• You have legally the right not to go back to work if you breastfeed your baby. But I highly suggest that you discuss that point with your boss prior to your leave.
• If you want additional leave, you can take your holidays (if you haven’t used all yours) or discuss with your boss to have an unpaid leave for a certain time.
• Good luck working in Switzerland and being pregnant. It is not always easy ! But you are rocking mama.

Were you pregnant in Switzerland ? how did you find it? what do you think of the maternity leave here?