Supplementary provisions.

[1997 s10(1)]

51.—(1) In this Chapter—

(a) “confinement” means labour resulting in the issue of a living child, or labour after 24 weeks of pregnancy resulting in the issue of a child whether alive or dead, and “confined” shall be read accordingly;

“registered medical practitioner” means a person registered in the General Register of Medical Practitioners established under section 26 of the Medical Practitioners Act 1978 ;

“relevant day” means the first day for which maternity benefit is claimed;

(b) references to the date of the confinement shall be taken as referring, where labour begun on one day results in the issue of a child on another day, to the date of the issue of the child or, where a woman is confined with twins or a greater number of children, to the date of the issue of the last child.

(2) In deciding whether or not to make an order under section 21A (inserted by the Status of Children Act 1987 ) of the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act 1976 , in so far as any such order relates to the payment of expenses incidental to the birth of a child, the Circuit Court or the District Court, as the case may be, shall not take into consideration the fact that the mother of the child is entitled to maternity benefit.