Check if you can get the Pregnancy and Baby Payment

You can apply earlier if you or your partner gave birth to your child prematurely. The baby can have been born before or during the 24th week of pregnancy.

You can get a Pregnancy and Baby Payment if your baby was stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy.

The application window is extended until the baby turns 1 in some situations, such as if you adopt a child or start looking after a child as a 'kinship carer'. You're a kinship carer if you take over looking after the child because a relative or close friend cannot care for them.

You might be able to make a late application for a Pregnancy and Baby Payment if you could not apply earlier because you were waiting for a decision about a qualifying benefit.

If you're awarded the qualifying benefit for at least 1 day that falls within the application window, you can apply for the payment.

You must make sure that Social Security Scotland receive your late application:

• no more than 20 working days after the last day of the application window - this means no more than 20 working days after the end of the day on which the child is 6 months old or no more than 20 working days after the end of the day before the child's first birthday, depending on the reason that you're responsible for the child, and

• within 3 months of you being told about the backdated award - you'll need to apply within 3 months of the date that the authority made the decision, for example the DWP or your local council.

You can make a late application. Social Security Scotland will check your application against your circumstances on the last day that you would normally have been eligible.

You can get the Pregnancy and Baby Payment if you've adopted a child who is less than 1 year old.

If you're getting Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Pension Credit or the child element of Universal Credit for the child, you will not need to give any evidence of the adoption to Social Security Scotland.

If you're not getting Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Pension Credit or the child element of Universal Credit for the child, you'll need to send Social Security Scotland a copy of the legal order that allows you to look after the child.

You should send Social Security Scotland a copy of the legal order, not the original.

You can ask Social Security Scotland to send you a pre-paid envelope to put the copy of the order in. You can phone them to ask for this. If you were sent a paper application form, the pre-paid envelope should have been sent with the form.

Get Social Security Scotland's contact details on our page about how to apply.

Find out more about adoption.

You can get a Pregnancy and Baby Payment if you're a kinship carer for a child who is less than 1 year old. This means that you're looking after the child because a relative or close friend cannot look after them. For example, you might be looking after your grandchild, niece or nephew.

If you're not getting Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Pension Credit or the child element of Universal Credit for the child, you'll need to send Social Security Scotland proof that you're a kinship carer. This could be:

• a copy of the legal order that allows you to look after the child

• proof that you've dealt with the social work department about the care of the child.

If you're not sure if the local council recognises you as a kinship carer, you can phone the National Kinship Care Advice Service.

You should send Social Security Scotland a copy of the legal order, not the original.

You can ask Social Security Scotland to send you a pre-paid envelope to put the copy of the order in. You can phone them to ask for this. If you were sent a paper application form, the pre-paid envelope should have been sent with the form. 

Get Social Security Scotland's contact details on our page about how to apply.

Read more about kinship care.

Only 1 person can get a Pregnancy and Baby Payment for a child.

If you and somebody else apply for the same child, Social Security Scotland will decide who gets the payment based on which benefits you already get for the child and how you can show you're responsible for the child.

Social Security Scotland must decide on the application of the person who applied first, before deciding on another application.

You’ll get the Pregnancy and Baby Payment if you get 1 of these benefits for the child:

• Child Tax Credit

• Pension Credit with child element

• Universal Credit with child element.

If you're a kinship carer, you'll get the Pregnancy and Baby Payment if either:

• no one else applying gets 1 of these benefits

• the child's circumstances show that you're responsible for them.

If no one is a kinship carer or getting benefits

You'll get the Pregnancy and Baby Payment if you get Child Benefit and no one who applied:

• is a kinship carer

• gets Universal Credit, Pension Credit or Child Tax Credit for the child.

But if no one gets Child Benefit, Social Security Scotland will decide who gets the payment by considering the child's circumstances. This means they'll think about where the child lives and how they're cared for.

If you're both kinship carers or getting benefits

The person who applied for the Pregnancy and Baby Payment first will get the payment if everyone applying has the same level of priority.

You might have the same level of priority if you and the other person:

• are kinship carers but do not get any benefits for the child yet

• get Universal Credit, Pension Credit or Child Tax Credit for the child.

For example, you might both get a benefit like Universal Credit for the child because you have a joint claim.

You can get a Pregnancy and Baby Payment. You can apply up to 6 months after the day your baby was born.

You need to have been at least 24 weeks pregnant for the payment to be made after a stillbirth. It will not be made if you had a miscarriage in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

You can still apply for a Pregnancy and Baby Payment.

If you're waiting for a decision about a claim for Universal Credit, your claim for a Pregnancy and Baby Payment will be held until the end of the first Universal Credit assessment period. A Pregnancy and Baby Payment decision can then be made at this point. This is called a 'determination'.

If you're waiting for a decision about a claim for any benefit other than Universal Credit, the claim will be held for 10 days in case a decision is made in that time. If so, a determination about the Pregnancy and Baby Payment can be made. If not, you'll need to re-apply for the Pregnancy and Baby Payment once your other benefit claim is decided.

If you've missed the application window for the Pregnancy and Baby Payment but you've now been awarded a qualifying benefit, you might be able to make a late claim for a payment. This will only be possible if you've been awarded the benefit for a date within the application window.

Find out if you can make a late claim for a payment.

If you're not sure if you can apply, check how you can get advice.

If you or your partner gets Universal Credit, you might not get some Universal Credit every month if your income goes up and down. Check that you got an award of Universal Credit in the month before you apply for the Pregnancy and Baby Payment, as this is what will be checked.

It will not matter if you do not get any Universal Credit in the month in which you apply, as long as you got some for the month before you applied.

If your Universal Credit goes down because of deductions, for example for a sanction or money you owe, this will not matter. Social Security Scotland will look at the amount of your Universal Credit before any deductions are made.

Read more about how Universal Credit is paid.

You don't need to get any qualifying benefits. 

You can choose whether you want:

• to apply and receive the benefit yourself

• someone else to apply and get the benefit, such as your parent or carer.

If someone else applies, they will need to get Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit or the child element of Universal Credit for you to show that you're still living with them. They'll also need to meet the other conditions to get a payment.

You don't need to get any benefits as long as someone else is getting Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit or the child element of Universal Credit for you. For example, your parent or carer might get 1 of these benefits for you because you're still at school or college.

You can choose whether you want:

• to apply and get the Pregnancy and Baby Payment yourself

• your parent or carer to apply and get the payment.

If you apply yourself, you'll need to give your parent or carer's details so that Social Security Scotland can check that they're getting benefits for you. You'll need to give their name, date of birth and national insurance number if they have one.

If your parent or carer applies for the payment, they can't apply online at the moment. They can only apply by phoning Social Security Scotland. Get Social Security Scotland's contact details on our page about how to apply.