Short term disability

I have this and I pay for it out of my check, it's a few dollars each week and I'm paid by the insurance company if im out for a medical reason after I submit forms filled out by my doctor

I had this when I had my daughter a few years ago. So it would just come out of your paycheck. I think mine was like $20 a month. It was through AFLAC. It’s been almost 5 years though so don’t quote me. I do think that you had to have it for a certain amount of time before you could use it for pregnancy though. Because they didn’t want people signing up in the middle of a pregnancy to use it and not be paying the deductible for more than a few months. That would be the thing I tell you to look into. Just call and ask how long you have to have it before using it for birth. I think mine was like 10 months before or something like that. So you had to sign up for it before you got pregnant, but I don’t know if it varies or has change. They should give you more direction once you’ve actually signed up, but I know with mine I had to send them a doctors note with the doctor saying how much time I need off to determine the amount.

Yes! Assuming you're in the us get it if you don't have paid maternity leave. You'll get 66% of your pay for 6 to 8 weeks (depending on the type of birth - vaginal or csection). After that you should be able to use pto to cover the remainder of your absence. If your company is large enough to mandate fmla you can take unpaid leave up to 12 weeks total and still be promised a position when you return. Edit to add I don't know the waiting period information and that may depend on the company.