Pregnancy and childbirth in France_Personal Experiences

Childbirth: Personal Experience of having a baby in Paris

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This article is about the personal experiences of pregnancy and childbirth in France, shared by one of our readers. The article has been published with his permission, along with some important additional information. For some personal reasons, he chose to remain anonymous.

If you would like to share your personal experiences, feel free to write to me via Contact. The articles will be published with credits or anonymously.

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Table of Contents

  1. Pregnancy Experience
  2. Procedures at Workplace
  3. Procedures after childbirth
  4. Sources & References

Pregnancy Experience

Recently, we have been blessed with a baby in France. My wife and I have been staying in France since last year. We do not speak French. After my wife became pregnant, we had a big confusion about staying in France or going to India. After a lot of discussions and advice from people, we decided to continue the process in France.

Initially we consulted a private gynecologist who speaks English. She was good and took care of us very well. But, you can also meet your GP (medecin traitant). After the 5th month, we registered in a public hospital. We chose Louis-Mourier Hospital as it has a child specialist.

Initially they assigned a doctor who does not speak English. We struggled a lot to get some details and we have some complications in pregnancy. After that, they assigned us to one doctor who speaks English. From that it went well, the doctor explained each problem in detail with solution and impact. However, we had some issues that gave more stress to us but they took care of us very well. They treated us in a proactive way and they were monitoring every week.

My wife got delivery pain on the 36th week. As it was a special case and 2nd baby, we went to the hospital immediately after the pain started. At the reception, they didn’t speak English and so we were worried. Fortunately, the Sage-femme (midwife) spoke English.

After the examination, they did not admit us because of the 36th week. We were literally scared a lot (we thought like India) and then we came back home. Around midnight, again my wife’s pain started. We reached the hospital at 2.00 AM and they admitted us.

The sage femme who took care of us spoke very good English. She started to explain each and everything about what they are doing and why they are doing it. We were blessed with a baby in the early morning. They were so and I am really very happy with the way they treated my wife. She was not scared at any point during delivery. They made her very comfortable. Post delivery care was also well organized.

My baby was hospitalized for 2 weeks after birth, but they took care very well. Once everything was good, they discharged and allowed us to go home.

Advantages

  • They are very clean and neat about the process.
  • Mostly preferring normal delivery.
  • Most of the expenses will be covered by Social security.
  • Very kind people.

Disadvantages

  • French Language.
  • They won’t give any medicine like India.
  • Many blood tests (depends on the case).
  • No Tablets during pregnancy except folic acid.

Suggestions

  • Get English speaking doctor.
  • Bring a family member from India for help (it is easy to get a visa for tis purpose).
  • Don’t follow your own medicines.

Remember, it’s a 1-year process (pre-natal and post-natal) and the to-be mother must be comfortable with the sage-femme. The sage-femme will declare your pregnancy to Ameli, upon which you will receive a pregnancy calendar. This pregnancy calendar will be required to be submitted at the mother’s workplace when she decides to let the employer know.

Cost of Childbirth

The costs of childbirth are covered 100% by the French Social Security. You can also benefit from a medical follow-up at the maternity hospital, and then support at home. However, it can cost around 2500€ without social security coverage. Some things that are deemed not obligatory but for comfort like belly support belts, compression socks, etc. may not be reimbursed by Social Security.

Concerning scans, social security only covers a total of 4 scans (0, 3rd, 6th, 8th, or 9th-month scans), unless more are asked by the doctors/sage-femme depending on the case.

Procedures at Workplace

You are obliged to inform your employer about the pregnancy before going on maternity leave. The declaration must be accompanied by a Medical Certificate. However, it is highly recommended to declare it in advance and benefit from certain rights available for pregnant employees, such as,

Maternity Leave

The to-be mother gets 16 weeks of maternity for one child pregnancy and 36 weeks in the case of twins. You can find more details in the table below.
Credits: ServicePublic.fr
But, if the working mother is fit to work, with a doctor’s attestation she can delay the pre-natal leaves by a maximum of 3 weeks. These 3 weeks will be added to the 10 weeks post-natal totalling 13 weeks. To avail of this, you need to send the doctor’s attestation attached with a request application to your CPAM and inform your workplace.
 

Paternity Leave

Fathers get 28 days of paternity leave of which 7 are to be mandatory taken from the next day of birth, 21 at your convenience within 6 months of birth, maximum 2 times).
 
Father needs to inform the employer at least 1 month in advance as well. Notify the employer very soon after the birth too, because they need to process your salary with Ameli (in case your company pays you full salary during your paternity leave).

Procedures after childbirth

After the birth, the attending nurse gives the father/accompanying adult a declaration of birth, which mentions the birth date, time, place, and baby’s details. Save this document safely. It will be needed at the Mairie to collect the birth certificate.
 
The hospital informs the local Mairie about the birth. The Mairie calls the mother’s contact number within 2 working days of the birth to give an appointment for the birth certificate. This appointment is usually within 5 working days of the birth. The spokesperson from Mairie will tell you about the documents to bring along for both parents like Passports, resident permits, marriage certificate (apostilled and translated into French), and address proof.

Birth Certificate from Mairie

Go to the Mairie to get the birth certificate. You should make sure that you have chosen the name of the baby before its birth. If you have a surname change needed for the baby, you need to get the Certificat De Coutume For A Newborn Child In France document from the Indian Embassy. Ideally, this must be done before the birth of the child. 
 
You can ask for as many copies of birth certificate as required and there is no limit. Mairie will also ask you if you need a multilingual version. Please don’t confuse it with a translation. It will have an English version too. You can get as many copies as you want of this as well. Get it apostilled.
 
  • The original birth certificate « Acte de naissance » can be used for the all purposes in France.
  • The apostilled version of the multilingual birth certificate «Extrait d’acte de naissance plurilingue » can be used abroad.  It is required for Indian Passport applications via VFS too. 
Declare birth of the child with every concerned authority – CAF, Ameli (both parents’ accounts), Mutuelle, Impots, Assurance Habitation, etc

Apostille of Birth Certificate

Get the birth certificate apostilled from a court in your vicinity (Cour d’appel). It’s free, you just need to apply to the court. The process is online, fill out the form Demande d’apostille (Formulaire 15703*01), take printouts, and send it to the court’s address with an empty envelope addressed to yourself (need to pay for it yourself). 
 
When the apostille Birth certificate is available, you should get it translated into English via a sworn translator in France. You can find them from the city-wise official list Experts agréés par les cours d’appel.

Baby’s Photographs

Get passport-size photos clicked for the baby conforming to standards mentioned by the Indian government for Indian passports and the French government for DCEM. It is difficult because the baby shouldn’t be crying, shouldn’t be laughing, and should have the eyes open.
 
We waited a month to get the photo while our little one could open his eyes and went to a professional studio that is also registered with the French govt to provide photos with QR codes/serial numbers accepted online for DCEM application. He took many shots and we finally got 1 as per the required conditions.

Registration of Birth at Indian Embassy

Apply for the registration of birth with the Indian Embassy. Fill out the online form on the MHA India website.
 
Within 20 days of doing the above, visit the VFS center, and submit your application in person, with the baby. The VFS people do check the presence of the baby. This process will cost about 50-55€ for the delivery of the certificate. You can find the complete details on the VFS website. 

Indian Passport Application

After receiving birth registration certificate (typically 2-3 weeks), you should complete the Indian passport application online form from our Embassy’s website.

Then, you should submit an application for the baby’s passport at the VFS Global office. The documents required and other relevant information are available on the VFS Global website. The baby may or may not be required to be present depending upon your appointment for the birth registration. VFS charged around 80€ for the home delivery of the passport.
As explained earlier, a Multi-language Birth certificate can be submitted only with the apostille from cours d’appel or tribunal. A separate translation isn’t required for the Indian passport application at VFS.
The passport usually arrives in 2 to 4 weeks. For a fresh passport of the newborn, police verification happens in India. So, if you have given your Indian address and phone, you should ensure that someone is present at the address. I am not sure, but I was told by VFS staff that we could have written a French address for the baby’s passport and they do accept it. But, I am not sure about the police verification process.

DCEM Application

Once you get the baby’s passport, you should change your family status via the ANEF website “Je déclare un changement de situation“. Then, add your baby’s information including the new passport details. Once it’s approved you will get notified.
 
Then, apply for the baby’s resident permit known as Document de circulation pour étranger mineur (DCEM) via the ANEF website. You will receive  a confirmation of application’s submission and the process usually takes 2 to 4 months to complete.
 
When it is ready, you should take a RDV from your local prefecture’s website and collect the DCEM. The baby must be present for the fingerprints along with the new passport, parent’s resident permits and a 50€ Timbres Fiscaux: Tax stamp for French resident permits.
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Sources & References

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