A last-minute change in the law has been enacted today to stop new mums losing out in the coronavirus outbreak.
The change will mean people who go on maternity leave now receive their full usual maternity pay, even if they are put on the government's 'furlough' scheme.
It applies to anyone starting Maternity, Paternity, Shared Parental, Parental Bereavement or Adoption Pay from tomorrow.
Tonight's move - which campaigners said was welcome, but not enough - comes after fears that thousands of mums were losing out on cash.
The 'furlough' scheme for more than 3million people leaves workers on 80% or less of their usual pay, funded by the state.
Because maternity pay is already less than a full wage, new mums were taking a double hit by having their salary docked, and then divided again when they went on leave.
Under the new law, anyone who starts maternity leave from tomorrow will now have it based on their "usual earnings" - not the reduced wage they got on furlough.
That means it will be worth at least 90% of usual earnings for the first 6 weeks, followed by 33 weeks at the statutory rate which is currently £151.20.
Business Minister Paul Scully said: "These measures will ensure those on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme continue to receive the parental leave and pay they are entitled to."
However, the change stops short of demands by the campaign group Maternity Action, which wrote to the Chancellor earlier this month.
Today's announcement does not address the plight of pregnant women who feel forced to leave their work by government guidance on vulnerable groups.
Pregnant women, along with the over-70s and people with an underlying health condition, are being told to "significantly limit" face-to-face contact.
The government has said the move is a precaution while scientists work out if pregnant women are more at risk.
But Maternity Action says many pregnant women are still being directed to work, in unsafe conditions, during the pandemic. The group is demanding formal advice for employers to offer home working or other safe working conditions for those women, or else allow them to be suspended on full pay.
Director Rosalind Bragg said the move was "welcome" but did not go far enough.
She said: "We are still waiting for the Government to provide employers with clear guidance on health and safety for pregnant women.
"Few employers understand their legal obligations towards pregnant women and many are demanding that women work in unsafe conditions.
“Many employers have wrongly placing pregnant women on sick leave as a health and safety measure, which is against the law.
“Employers should undertake a risk assessment for each pregnant employee and offer her home working or other safe working arrangements.
"If they can’t do so they must suspend women on full pay or offer furlough."
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