Maternity protection

In order to claim rights under the Maternity Protection Act, the pregnancy must be communicated to the university. Therefore you should follow the steps below:

1. Inform your study program coordinator that you are pregnant.

Fill out this notification form and send it to your study program coordinator. 

2. Make an appointment with your program coordinator.

After notifying your study program coordinator (step 1), ask your study program coordinator for an appointment to complete the following additional administrative steps:

Notification form for the Occupational Health and Safety Department 

Complete this notification form and discuss it together. 

Risk assessment

The risk assessment (PDF) is also completed together with the study program coordinator or the persons responsible for the module. The purpose of the risk assessment is to determine if pregnant students can continue to safely participate in each module.

After the documents have been completed (notification in accordance with § 27 Para.1 MuSchG + risk assessment), the notification is forwarded by the study program coordination to the student secretariat and from there sent to the district government.

Further information on the risk assessment can be found here.

Students on maternity protection are excused from attending courses six weeks before the calculated birth date and eight weeks after birth.

Students can decide themselves whether to take advantage of maternity leave.

Important: Should a student decide to take part in a course without first having registered their pregnancy, they will automatically lose all the rights conferred to them by the Maternity Protection Act.

Pregnant students can withdraw from an examination at any time before it starts.

Pregnant students and students on maternity leave have a right to compensation for disadvantages, which is set out in the respective examination regulations of the faculties.

Please submit the application for disadvantage compensation to the Examinations Office as early as possible before the relevant examination dates - i.e. approx. 8 weeks in advance. This is the only way to ensure that the application can be reviewed in good time.

Possible measures to compensate for disadvantages are

• Extension of writing time
• breaks
• Conversion of examination forms (please note, not possible in all subjects)
• Other individual measures

Pregnant students and students with children can take a leave of absence for up to 10 semesters. This is also possible under certain conditions already in the first semester of a master's program. (This does not apply to the first semester of an undergraduate degree program!)

The consequences of a leave of absence (excerpt)

• Students are not eligible for BAföG during a semester on leave. If a student is unable to pursue her studies due to pregnancy, BAföG will continue to be paid for a maximum of three months (§ 15 para. 2a BAföG).

• Students are not eligible for family allowance for themselves, except during the period in which they are on maternity leave and during a transition period of max. four months between the end of maternity leave and the continuance of their studies.

• Students granted a leave of absence are not permitted to be employed by the university 

• Pregnant students are required to pay the full semester fee during their leave of absence.

Maternity benefit and the employer’s maternity supplement are classed as wage-replacement benefits and are paid during maternity protection. These monies are only paid if a pregnant woman is not in receipt of pay from salaried employment during maternity leave.

Would you like to check the level of your eligibility for financial support and find out how to apply for it?

Consult the Federal Office for Social Security.
Different regulations apply to those with mini-jobs. Please consult your statutory health insurance provider.