A pregnant woman saves money into a piggy bank – Image from Shutterstock

The United States is the one and only industrialized nation that refuses to offer paid maternity leave for families. A massive government fail in our opinion - a fail that apparently assumes only the rich deserve to raise a family. What this means for you, sadly, is that figuring out how to afford to have a baby and finance maternity or paternity leave can be very tricky. In good news tricky is not the same as 100% impossible. If you plan ahead, unpaid maternity leave can be easier to handle. We've got seven great ideas below that may help you out if you're trying to afford maternity leave.

Plan Ahead for Financial & Personal Health

If you and your partner are even mildly discussing baby plans then you should also be discussing saving extra money so that both of you can take leave when the baby arrives. Typically financial pros recommend you save at least 10% of your pay for rainy days, but you’ll need much more than that. If you’re only saving 10% of your take-home pay, after a year, you’ll likely only have enough for about a month of maternity leave and zero money in savings for emergencies. A better way to save is to decide how much maternity time you’ll need, figure out the amount of money you’ll need to cover bills during your time off, then aim to save that amount. Simply saving an arbitrary 10% or 15% may leave you lacking funds. You should also be planning goals that help you stay healthy. If you’re fit and in great shape when you become pregnant, you’ll have a better chance of having a low-complication, and thus, way lower-cost pregnancy and birth. If you’re overweight, ill or generally out of shape, you’ll be much more likely to need potentially dangerous and costly pregnancy and birth care and interventions. If babies are in your future, make sure to eat right, get plenty of exercise and see your doctor regularly. By the way, did you know that around 50% of U.S. pregnancies are unplanned? Even if babies are the farthest thing from your mind, it’s a good rule of thumb to open a savings account and start saving plus work on staying healthy, just in case a surprise bundle comes your way. Planning ahead is hard at times, but worth it once you have your baby in your arms.

Suspend Your Retirement Plan Temporarily

If you’ve got a 401(k) or other retirement plan in place, suspending your payments while you’re expecting can add up to a week or more worth of leave, depending on how much you contribute monthly. If you and your partner both suspend your retirement payments, it’ll help even more. However, don’t forget to reinstate your account to normal payments after you return to work, because in the long run, retirement savings are important.

Save Vacation Days

Many workers in the U.S. do have access to paid vacation, sick and personal leave days, and if you’re one of them, start saving them up as soon as possible. Hoarding these paid off days now, may allow you a bit more time home later on with your baby. While a babymoon may sound appealing, it might be best to skip it, go on some simple, yet fun in-town dates with your partner, and save your paid vacation days so you can use them after your baby arrives. Plus, if you save enough, you can always go on a fun vacation later with your baby in tow.

Investigate Employee Benefits

While it’s true we live in a country that doesn’t require paid leave or even decent leave policies for new families, this isn’t across the board. Many states are setting their own paid leave laws and some innovative and supportive companies go way beyond the basics, offering actual decent maternity leave benefits. Ideally, research your own company’s benefits before you become pregnant. Some U.S. companies’ insurance policies offer a full six to eight weeks of full or partial pay for workers with an illness, but luckily, since the U.S. considers pregnancy a “condition” rather than an experience, new moms are often eligible too. Other companies offer Employee Assistance Plans (EAPs). Often people associate EAPs with dramatic events like drug counseling or therapy, but many EAPs do include benefits related to pregnancy assistance. Other workplace options to look into that may help you save money for leave time include flexible spending accounts (FSAs) or medical expense FSAs (sometimes called health care FSA). Both types of FSAs allow you to set aside pretax earnings for medical expenses and in some cases child care expenses.

Use Your Home

If you own your home you may be able to take out a home-equity line of credit to help fund maternity leave time. If you’re eligible for a home-equity line of credit, a benefit is that you’ll have access to the money if you need it, but there are no requirements to use it if you end up not needing it.

Attach, Go Green & Save on Baby Costs

There are plenty of benefits to both attachment parenting and going green, but a major perk for new parents is the money you’ll save. Co-sleeping, an attachment parenting method, means no costly crib, organic mattress or organic crib sheets. Breastfeeding can save you tons of cash on bottles, insanely expensive formula and health care (breastfed babies are usually healthier). Even if you factor in the best nursing bras and a pro breast pump, you’ll still save money by breastfeeding over formula feeding. Other green and attachment parenting ways to save money ongoing include homemade baby food, homemade green cleaners, cloth diapers and homemade reusable baby wipes. Of course, basic green practices such as turning off lights, taking shorter showers and driving less all save you money as well.

Buy Less – Spend Less

Most Americans buy way too much useless stuff as it is. Once you’re expecting, the urge to spend money and buy useless junk can become even more intense. From cute little clothes to designer diapers to educational toys to give your baby an edge, new parents often think they need it all. In reality, you don’t. Babies need very little in terms of material goods to survive and thrive. Some diapers, a safe car seat, a basic layette, some blankets, burp cloths and a few books and toys is seriously bare minimum what you need. Plus, don’t forget, people love to give expecting parents gifts. You’ll get baby goods galore from other people, so don’t go out the second you’re pregnant and buy out Babies R Us. If you’re not sure what you need vs. what you don’t check out the following guides.