Maternity Leave Prior to Labor - CA

kelnoelle

I've heard and read that CA allows women to start their paid maternity leave 4 weeks prior to their due date.  If you don't use this 4 weeks, do you lose it, or can it be used after delivery?  How many CA ladies took advantage of this, and do you think your boss or company thought any less of you for leaving work before you really needed to?

I'm not due until November, so I haven't talked in detail with my HR Department, but wanted to get others' feelings on it.