Healthy pregnant women in Switzerland are given sick leave. Looks like a bug? It’s also: system error. If pregnant women could take part of their maternity leave before they were born, as in all other EU and EFTA countries, there would be no need for sick leave.
But since Switzerland is the only country in Europe that requires women to work before labor begins, they require a certificate of incapacity for work if they require a prenatal rest phase when they are heavily pregnant. The rest period that experts recommend for all pregnant women.
Moving from a “sick leave system” to prenatal leave would make life easier for healthy pregnant women, for whom the medical certificate has a bitter taste. After all, they are heavily pregnant, not sick. And in this way, Switzerland would get rid of the dubious special role that it plays in Europe in this socio-political sphere.