Time Off for Antenatal Appointments: Your Rights at Work Explained

Your Right to Paid Time Off for Antenatal Care

As a pregnant employee, you have a statutory right to paid time off for antenatal care. This is a day-one right — you don't need any minimum length of service.

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, your employer must allow you reasonable time off to attend antenatal appointments and must not reduce your pay for doing so.

What Counts as Antenatal Care?

Antenatal care covers a broad range of medical and health-related appointments recommended by your midwife or doctor as part of your pregnancy care:

•Midwife appointments — your booking appointment (usually around 8-10 weeks), and all routine antenatal check-ups throughout pregnancy

•NHS scans — the dating scan (around 12 weeks), the anomaly scan (around 20 weeks, when you can also collect your MATB1 form), and any additional growth scans

•Hospital consultant appointments — if you're under consultant-led care for a high-risk pregnancy or any pregnancy complications

•Blood tests and screening — including routine blood tests, glucose tolerance tests for gestational diabetes, and screening for conditions such as pre-eclampsia

•Antenatal classes — NHS antenatal classes and parentcraft classes, provided they are recommended by your midwife or doctor

•Mental health appointments — counselling or specialist perinatal mental health support recommended as part of your antenatal care

•Physiotherapy — if referred for pregnancy-related conditions such as pelvic girdle pain or back pain

•Relaxation and parent craft classes recommended by a registered medical practitioner

The key test is whether the appointment is recommended by a midwife, doctor, or other registered health professional as part of your pregnancy care. If it is, your employer must allow you paid time off to attend.

What Might Not Be Covered

•Private antenatal classes that aren't recommended by your midwife or doctor

•Appointments for your partner (see partner rights below)

•Baby shopping or nursery preparation

•General lifestyle activities such as pregnancy yoga (unless specifically recommended by a health professional)

Travel Time

Your entitlement includes reasonable travel time to and from the appointment. If your appointment requires a long journey — for example, to a specialist hospital — your employer must allow the full time needed, not just the appointment itself.

How Much Time Off Can You Take?

There's no statutory limit on the number of appointments you can attend. You're entitled to reasonable paid time off for every antenatal appointment. This includes the time travelling to and from appointments.

Do You Need to Show Proof?

•For your first appointment: your employer cannot ask for proof

•For subsequent appointments: your employer can ask to see your appointment card or a letter confirming the appointment

•Your employer cannot insist on seeing your medical records

Your Rights in Practice

Your employer must:

•Pay you your normal rate of pay for time off for antenatal appointments

•Not insist that you make up the time or take annual leave

•Not move you to different shifts to avoid antenatal appointments

•Not treat you unfavourably for attending appointments

Your employer cannot:

•Refuse you time off for antenatal appointments

•Require you to rearrange appointments outside working hours

•Dock your pay or require you to use holiday

•Discipline you for attending appointments

Partners' Rights to Antenatal Appointments

Partners (including same-sex partners, civil partners, and fathers) have separate rights:

•You can take unpaid time off to attend up to 2 antenatal appointments with the expectant mother

•Each appointment can last up to 6.5 hours (including travel time)

•This right applies to employees and agency workers

Note: This right is to unpaid leave. Some employers voluntarily offer paid time off for partners to attend appointments — check your company's policy.

Agency Workers and Antenatal Appointments

Agency workers have the same right to paid time off for antenatal appointments as employees, after 12 weeks in the same placement. Before this qualifying period, you may need to rearrange work hours or take unpaid time.

What If Your Employer Refuses?

If your employer refuses to allow you time off for antenatal care:

1.Put your request in writing citing your statutory right under the Employment Rights Act 1996

2.Contact ACAS for free advice (0300 123 1100)

3.You may be able to bring a claim to an Employment Tribunal

Refusing antenatal time off may also constitute pregnancy discrimination.

Tips for Managing Antenatal Appointments at Work

•Give your employer as much notice as possible — while they can't refuse, being considerate helps maintain a good relationship

•Try to schedule appointments at the start or end of the day where possible (but you're not obligated to)

•Keep your appointment card handy in case your employer asks to see it

•Know your rights — if you feel pressured to skip appointments, that could constitute pregnancy discrimination

•Put requests in writing — if your employer is awkward about time off, email your request so there's a paper trail

•Remember it's paid time — your employer cannot ask you to make up the hours, use annual leave, or take unpaid time

How Antenatal Time Off Relates to Your Maternity Leave

Your antenatal appointments are separate from your maternity leave entitlement. They don't reduce your maternity leave or affect your Statutory Maternity Pay calculation. Once your maternity leave begins, antenatal appointment rights no longer apply — but by then, your baby should have arrived.

If you're still working in the later stages of pregnancy, you may find appointments become more frequent — typically fortnightly from around 28 weeks, and weekly from 36 weeks. Your employer must accommodate all of these, even if it means significant time away from work.

Use our Maternity Leave Planner to work out your key dates, and our Maternity Pay Calculator to see how your SMP will be calculated.

Related Guides

•Pregnancy Rights at Work — your full legal protections

•MATB1 Form Guide — your maternity certificate explained

•Maternity Leave Letter to Employer — how to notify your workplace

•When to Start Maternity Leave — choosing the right date