"They have a program very helpful for women taking maternity leave that is not publicized. It's called VRWS (Voluntary Reduction in Work Service). For the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of my pregnancy, under this program I was able to work 100% of my schedule (full time) but take home 70% of my pay and bank the other 30% for paid leave in the future. The other benefit of this program was that for every ten day pay period while I was out on leave, I only had to use 7 days of accruals. So I was able to stretch out my leave longer, although I was at 70% of my salary. By staying on the payroll during my leave, NYS still covered my healthcare costs (a considerable expense since my husband and child were both on my insurance). I also took advantage of temporary disability. Between these 3 things, and years of vacation and sick leave accruing, I was able to take almost 6 months of leave, all of which was paid at 50% to 70% of my salary. Pretty good considering that technically my agency did not offer "paid maternity leave" per se (in that they do not "gift" wages to employees who go out on leave). I think women are able to advance here and I did not feel judged for taking as much time as I did, but I'm sure the culture varies from agency to agency and within each division as well."