Maybe, but not necessarily. Your leave start date is the date you consider yourself off for parental reasons. This may coincide with your birth/adoption date, or it may precede it. For example, you may be off in the previous weeks for medical reasons. It is important to note that the date of your first Report Form may be a different date again. For example, you may have stopped work on July 15, gave birth on August 1, with your first day of NLMA Parental Leave Allowance being the following Monday.