(1) Subject to this Act, a woman shall be entitled to maternity benefit where -

(a) it is certified by a registered medical practitioner or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Minister that it is to be expected that the woman will be confined in a week specified in the certificate (hereafter in this section referred to as "the expected week of confinement") not being more than the prescribed number of weeks after that in which the certificate is given, or it is certified by a registered medical practitioner or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Minister that a woman has been confined,

(b) in the case of an employed contributor, it is certified by the woman's employer that she is entitled to maternity leave under section 8 of the Maternity Protection Act 1994, and

(c) subject to subsection (2), she satisfies the contribution conditions in section 48.

(2) The requirement in subsection (1) (c) shall not apply in the case of a claim for maternity benefit made by a woman who was in receipt of health and safety benefit under section 52 at any time during the pregnancy as a result of which it is expected that she will be confined.