PFL after emergency C-section: Do I switch from disability early or stay until return-to-work date?

Congrats on your baby boy! Your disability claim continues after birth - that's normal. For C-sections, you get 8 weeks of recovery time under disability (SDI), starting from your delivery date. So your disability should run until approximately 9/9 (7/15 + 8 weeks). That actually lines up pretty well with your already-approved return date of 9/10. What you need to do right away is file a "Change of Medical Information" form with EDD since you delivered early. Your doctor needs to certify the actual birth date. Then, about 1-2 weeks before your disability ends, apply for PFL baby bonding. Don't wait until the last minute!

didnt ur doctor tell u this stuff?? my ob gave me a whole packet about wat to do after birth. but anyway yah ur disability keeps going for 6 wks for regular birth or 8 wks for c section...then u switch to PFL for bonding. u dont apply for PFL til disability is almost done. i messed this up and applied too early and they denied me and i had to reapply lol

I HATE how confusing EDD makes all this!!!!! I went through this exact situation last year and spent HOURS trying to get someone on the phone for a simple question. My advice: call your doctor's office ASAP and ask them to submit the updated medical info showing your actual delivery date. Then set a calendar reminder for 1 week before your disability ends to file for PFL. Oh and when you DO need to call EDD (which you probably will at some point), use Claimyr.com - it's the ONLY way I finally got through to a real person. They have this system that calls for you and gets you in the queue without you having to redial 500 times. Saved my sanity! They have a video demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/DOLxZQb92wM?si=6N1iCQ3a8Cdb2Ay5

The most important thing is for your doctor to let EDD know you delivered!! My friend just had the same situation - early emergency C-section - and her doctor didn't report it right away. She almost had a payment gap because the system still thought she was pregnant and hadn't delivered yet. Your doctor needs to submit the medical change form ASAP showing the delivery date. Then disability will continue for 8 weeks from delivery (for C-section), and THEN you apply for PFL baby bonding.

Why are you asking here and not calling EDD directly??? Their website clearly explains this process. You remain on disability for recovery period then transition to PFL. This isn't complicated.

Here's the exact process for your situation (I'm an HR benefits coordinator who deals with this all the time): 1. Your doctor needs to submit a "Change in Medical Information" to EDD immediately reporting your delivery date. 2. Your SDI (disability) will continue for exactly 8 weeks from your C-section delivery date (7/15). This means your disability should end around 9/9. 3. Since your already-approved return-to-work date is 9/10, you shouldn't need to adjust anything there - the timing works out perfectly. 4. File for PFL approximately 10 days before your disability ends (around 8/30). 5. When filing for PFL, you'll use your SDI Online account - same login you used for disability. The system will recognize you're transitioning from pregnancy disability to baby bonding. Make sure your doctor submits that delivery notification ASAP - that's the most critical step right now.

this happened to me too!! dont stress about it, the system actually works ok once your doctor reports the birth. my baby came 2 weeks early and i just stayed on disability for the full 8 weeks after csection, then did baby bonding pfl after that. the only thing that was annoying was making sure my work knew my return date was different than originally planned.

Congratulations on your baby boy! 🎉 I went through almost the exact same situation last year - emergency C-section 2.5 weeks early. Here's what I learned: Your disability will automatically continue for the full 8 weeks from your actual delivery date (7/15), so it should end around 9/9-9/10, which lines up perfectly with your existing return-to-work date. You don't need to "switch" early or cancel anything. The key steps are: 1. Get your doctor to submit the delivery date update to EDD ASAP (sounds like you're already on this!) 2. About 1-2 weeks before your disability ends, apply for PFL baby bonding through your same SDI online account 3. Make sure your employer knows your actual delivery date in case it affects any internal paperwork The transition from disability to PFL is pretty seamless once EDD has the correct delivery date on file. Don't stress too much - the system is designed to handle early births! Just focus on recovering and bonding with your little one. The paperwork will sort itself out as long as you get that medical update submitted soon. Feel free to ask if you have any other questions - this community was a lifesaver for me during my own maternity leave!

Hey Simon! Congrats on your baby boy! 🎉 I just went through this exact situation 6 months ago - emergency C-section at 36 weeks when I was supposed to have 3 more weeks of pregnancy disability left. The good news is your disability automatically continues after delivery! Since you had a C-section, you get the full 8 weeks of recovery time starting from 7/15, which should take you right to around 9/9-9/10 - so your existing return date actually works out perfectly. The most important thing right now is making sure your doctor submits that delivery date change to EDD immediately. I made the mistake of waiting a week and it caused some confusion with my payments. Once that's updated, you're all set to just ride out the disability until it ends, then apply for PFL baby bonding about 10 days before (so around late August). One tip: screenshot or save confirmation when your doctor submits the medical update, just in case you need to reference it later. The transition should be smooth, but having that documentation helped me feel more confident everything was processed correctly. You've got this mama! The hardest part is behind you - now just focus on recovery and those newborn snuggles. 💙