2 questions:
My employer does not have to comply with FMLA (there are only 49 employees).
I had requested 8 weeks of maternity leave after the baby's born, but they said they just couldn't grant me that and instead are giving me 6 weeks. I am not asking for paid leave at all--simply time off. I think I already know the answer to my question, but can they restrict me to 6 weeks leave even if I'm not asking for paid leave?
My second question is, if my MD gives me a work excuse for the last week of pregnancy (My job requires standing for 95% of the day), could my employer subtract that week from the 6 weeks they've granted me (even though I have it in writing that they approved 6 weeks leave AFTER the birth of the child)?
I'm afraid that if I take a week before the baby's born, they will make me come back after 5 weeks. My manager made kind of a passive aggressive comment that she was glad she worked right up until her due date because then she "didn't use up any leave time & had all her time for after the baby's born."

Has your employer ever had more than 49 employees - if so, how recent? Is 49 employees the total # of employees within a 75 mi. radius of where you work?

Your employer only needs to give you the amt. of leave they would give any other temporarily disabled employee. They must treat you the same as they would treat any other employee taking off temporarily - if they only get 6 wks., that is all they need to give you.

If your employer does not qualify for FMLA, they do not have to give you any time at all. The only qualifier is that you cannot receive less time than a similarly situated employee with a non-maternity condition.

So if a similarly situated employee would get 6 weeks for pneumonia or a broken leg, you get six weeks. If they would get 4, you get 4. If they would get 8, you get 8, and so on. If that hypothetical employee would not get any time off, then neither do you.

Outside of FMLA, a doctor's note has no force in law. If your employer is only willing to give you 6 weeks, and if that is all they would grant to the hypothetical employee above, it doesn't matter if your doctor wants you to have six weeks after the birth - you get a total of 6 weeks, period.