I am 23 weeks pregnant. I was fired from my job at 3 months. I have been collecting unemployment since but I would like to go back to work and make more money. I have been told by friends that I can hide my pregnancy well with certain clothes. Legally can I just apply for a job and say nothing at the interview and then later on after I have the job tell them about my pregnancy? And after I tell them, how do I leave work when it is time for the baby seeing I probably won't be eligible for maternity leave? Just quit or have a doctor's note exempt me from work? Any help you can offer would be great!

There is no law requiring that you tell an employer up front that you are pregnant, and both Federal and state law prohibit a company from refusing to hire you because you are pregnant. However, that doesn't mean that any company owes you a job; only that you have to be evaluated with the rest of the candidates with your pregnancy eliminated as a factor. They don't have to hire you BECAUSE you are pregnant, either,

MA state law says that an employee who has completed either the company probationary period or, if there is no probationary period, three months of employment, is entitled to up to eight weeks of maternity leave. At the present moment this leave is unpaid; however, there is legislation on the Hill right now that, if passed, would require that you receive paid leave. (While this bill is likely to pass, there is no guarantee that it will pass in time for you, sorry.)

Since FMLA will not apply to you and since the only state law that would affect you is the one above, a doctor's note has no force in law. A doctor cannot "take you off work" with your job protected unless FMLA is involved, which it will not be.

Clarification; the law granting you 8 weeks of leave has already been passed and is in effect. The law which would make that PAID leave will probably not pass in time for you.