You can get maternity benefit if you are an employee and have worked the last 13 weeks before you go on leave. If you are self-employed you must have worked in the past month and at least 6 months within the last year before going on maternity leave. If you are unemployed and receive unemployment benefits, you can also get maternity benefits. You can get maternity leave with maternity benefits for 4 weeks before you expect to give birth. After you have given birth, you have 2 weeks of maternity leave which you must take. Then you have 12 weeks of maternity leave. If you do not meet the 12 weeks you will lose the right to hold them later.