During pregnancy

Kela pays pregnancy allowance (raskausraha) to the pregnant parent during their pregnancy leave (raskausvapaa). Kela pays pregnancy allowance for a total of 40 days (Monday to Saturday, excluding mid-week holidays).

You need a certificate of pregnancy (raskaustodistus) to apply for pregnancy allowance.

You can get the certificate and apply for pregnancy allowance after your pregnancy has lasted for 154 days (22 weeks). Ask for example your maternity and child health clinic (neuvola) for the certificate.

If your employer pays you a salary during your pregnancy leave, Kela will pay the pregnancy allowance to your employer. However, you must still submit your application for pregnancy allowance to Kela.

Note also that you cannot get pregnancy allowance if you already get parental allowance (vanhempainraha) for another child. You must choose which benefit you want to get.

Pregnancy allowance is one of the daily allowances for parents. Daily allowances for parents is a collective term for the following benefits:

• pregnancy allowance, special pregnancy allowance and partial special pregnancy allowance
• parental allowance and partial parental allowance

This is a summary. Please scroll down for more information and instructions on how to apply for the benefit.

Pregnancy allowance can only be paid to the parent giving birth. Aside from that, family structure has no impact on the right to pregnancy allowance.

The pregnancy allowance is not increased or extended, even if more than one baby is born into the family at the same time or the birthing parent is a single parent.

You can get pregnancy allowance if you live in Finland permanently or work in Finland.

If you move to Finland from another EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom and your country of departure pays you pregnancy allowance or parental allowance, your country of departure will usually continue to pay your allowance until the end of the payment period. You cannot get pregnancy allowance from Finland for the same period of time.

After the payment of your pregnancy allowance from the other country has ended, you can get pregnancy allowance from Finland if the Finnish pregnancy allowance is paid for a longer period of time than the corresponding benefit in your country of departure.

Child born abroad

You can get pregnancy allowance even if your child is born abroad. However, you must live in Finland permanently or work in Finland.  

In order to receive pregnancy allowance, you need a certificate of pregnancy. The certificate can also be issued by a doctor, midwife or nurse who has monitored the pregnancy abroad.

If you move abroad, let us know that you are leaving Finland. The length of your stay outside Finland and the country you go to affect whether you can receive benefits. We consider each customer’s situation on a case-by-case basis.

If you move abroad permanently before the payment of your pregnancy allowance would begin, you will usually not be entitled to pregnancy allowance. If you move abroad temporarily, you may be entitled to pregnancy allowance.

If you already receive pregnancy allowance and move permanently to an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, Kela will continue to pay your pregnancy allowance until the end of the payment period. Kela can do so if you have worked before the payment of your pregnancy allowance started or if you have received a daily allowance immediately after you stopped working, and that daily allowance was affected by your work. Such daily allowances include sickness allowance and unemployment allowance. If you move to an EU or EEA country or Switzerland and receive parental allowance immediately after pregnancy allowance, Kela will also continue to pay your parental allowance until the end of the payment period. 

In general, pregnancy allowance will not be paid if you move abroad for more than 6 months. However, you can receive pregnancy allowance for a stay longer than 6 months if you are, for example:

• a posted employee
• an aid worker
• a student or researcher
• a family member of any of the above.

Leaving Finland

You can get more information about the payment of benefits by calling Kela at 020 634 0200.

If the expected due date of your baby is before your previous child turns 3 years old, you can get pregnancy allowance on the basis of the same annual or earned income that was used to calculate the allowances for your previous child.

The annual earnings are adjusted by a wage coefficient when the annual income used as the basis for the previous daily allowance is used to calculate the new daily allowance. This may result in a slight change in the amount of the allowance, even if the annual income used to calculate the allowance remains the same.

You do not have to notify Kela that you want your daily allowance to be calculated on the basis of your previous income. We will automatically calculate whether it will be more favourable for you to receive daily allowances for parents based on the new annual income or on the same income as for your previous child.

You can use the calculator to get a more accurate estimate of the amount of pregnancy allowance on the basis of your annual income.

You can apply for pregnancy allowance once your pregnancy has lasted at least 154 days and you have received a certificate of pregnancy.

Apply for the allowance within 2 months of the start of your pregnancy leave at the latest.

Check with your employer if you will be paid a salary during your pregnancy leave. You will need this information when you apply for pregnancy allowance.

If your employer pays you a salary during your pregnancy leave, your employer must submit a separate application for the pregnancy allowance. Kela does not issue a decision on pregnancy allowance until we have received applications from both you and your employer.

In general, an employer cannot submit an application until they have paid the salary for the pregnancy leave. You can take leave, as you have agreed with your employer. You do not have to wait for a decision on pregnancy allowance before you go on pregnancy leave.

You cannot get pregnancy allowance and parental allowance paid for another child at the same time. You can choose for which child you seek a benefit.

Certain benefits granted for the same period, such as rehabilitation allowance and pension, will be deducted from the amount of pregnancy allowance.

If your baby is born more than 30 working days before the estimated due date, you will be paid pregnancy allowance starting from the first working day following the day of the birth. In this situation, you can receive the parental allowance paid after the pregnancy allowance for a longer time.

Even if your pregnancy ends in miscarriage or it is terminated, you can get pregnancy allowance if your pregnancy has lasted for at least 154 days.

Pregnancy allowance is paid for 40 working days. In addition, you are entitled to parental allowance for 65 consecutive working days immediately after the pregnancy allowance period.

However, pregnancy or parental allowance is not paid if you are working.

If a child is stillborn or dies at birth or soon thereafter, the birthing parent can get pregnancy or parental allowance for a consecutive period of 105 working days. Read more from the page On parental leave.

If you receive pregnancy allowance or parental allowance and you are granted rehabilitation allowance for the same period of time, the amount of the rehabilitation allowance will be deducted from your pregnancy allowance or parental allowance.

This means that you may be paid too much pregnancy allowance or parental allowance if you are granted rehabilitation allowance retroactively. If this happens, Kela will collect any overpayments of pregnancy allowance or parental allowance from you.

You can choose to cancel parental allowance days for which parental allowance has not yet been paid and use the days after the end of the rehabilitation allowance period. Parental allowance days can be used until the child reaches the age of 2 years.

Pregnancy allowance is not paid for days when you are working. Even if pregnancy allowance is not paid, the pregnancy allowance days are still running and you cannot save days for later use.

Working means any gainful employment as well as such activities as

• working from home
• being on call or standby
• working in a company owned by yourself or a member of your family
• farming or forestry work
• independent scientific work and holding an office of trust, if it is connected with your employment or you are paid a fee for it.

However, you are not considered to be working if you hold a position as an elected municipal official according to the Local Government Act. You are, however, considered to be working if you act in that position as a member of a municipal decision-making body. Read more in the Local Government Act (finlex.fi).

You are also not considered to be working if you are an informal caregiver or a family caregiver working under a service contract. This does not, however, apply to professional family care.

If you go to work while you are on pregnancy leave, you should cancel your application for pregnancy allowance in OmaKela. This will ensure that you are paid the correct amount of pregnancy allowance, and that you will not need to pay any of it back. You need not notify Kela of any salary details or about working on Sundays or midweek holidays.

You can get pregnancy allowance even though you are studying during your pregnancy. Receiving study grant payments does not prevent payment of pregnancy allowance.

You need not notify Kela that you are studying.

You cannot receive pregnancy allowance for a period when you are on paid annual leave or another form of paid leave in an employment relationship. During such a period, your employer will pay you a salary, so you do not incur any loss of earnings due to taking care of your child.

If your leave or your absence from work is unpaid, you can get pregnancy allowance during that period.

However, if you take paid annual leave during your pregnancy leave, your pregnancy allowance days are still running and you will not be able to save days for later use. Report changes in OmaKela. This will ensure that you are paid the correct amount of pregnancy allowance, and that you will not need to pay any of it back.

If you have to take sick leave before the start of your pregnancy leave, consult your employer to find out if you will be paid during your sick leave. If you are paid a salary, Kela will pay the sickness allowance to your employer. If you will not be paid a salary, you can apply for sickness allowance from Kela. 

If you fall ill during your pregnancy allowance days, you cannot transfer the pregnancy allowance to the other parent. This is because pregnancy allowance is paid only to the pregnant parent.

If you are unable to care for your child because you are ill, the other parent may, however, be entitled to parental allowance. In such a situation, you should contact Kela.

You may also be eligible for various sickness benefits that provide compensation for costs and loss of income due to illness. You cannot, however, get sickness allowance and pregnancy allowance for the same period. You may be eligible for rehabilitation allowance, but the amount of the allowance will be deducted from your pregnancy allowance.

If you are employed and fall ill while receiving pregnancy allowance, you can ask your employer if your pregnancy or parental leave will be converted into sick leave. This may affect any salary that may be paid for the period of absence from work.