Maternity Pay and MAT1B

Hi All,

I have a question regarding Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

Wife went to India and found out she was pregnant. She is not going to be back till the baby is born.
She works full time and is in ILR.

Now to claim SMP the employer needs a MAT1B and the midwives at our hospital are saying

MatB1 is a legal document it can only be issued at a face to face appointment, it cannot be sent in the post/or left at reception, we need to physically examine you before issuing this

Anyone else has experience of this situation - any advice.

Thanks in Advance.

Not strictly an immigration issue. Your wife is clearly entitled to SMP if she were in the UK, as she has ILR. And this would impact British citizens as well if they lived abroad for a significant period of time.

You may want to post this question on forums focussed on pregnancy, where I did find this question raised for British citizens living abroad (but no answer).

The Mat1b guidance for doctors and midwives states;

It’s important that MAT B1s are issued:
only when you are satisfied your patient is pregnant,...

It would be very hard to be satisfied that the patient is in fact pregnant if she is a quarter of the globe away.

And in addition,

For the MAT B1 to be valid, registered midwifes must include:

their Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) personal identification number
the expiry date of their registration with NMC
Doctors must use their name and address stamp.

So the person signing the Mat1B is staking their professional reputation and job on the line, as they can be disciplined by the NMC or the GMC (General Medical Council) if they issue a Mat1B incorrectly.

Can you now see why they are unwilling to issue the Mat1B?

Thanks for the advice.