Pregnancy and childbirth in France_Personal Experiences

Personal Experience of having a baby in France: Childbirth

31 Comments / Children, FAQ, Health, Social Security / By

Last updated on: November 28, 2025 |  By: @rprasanth_kumar

This article is about the personal experiences of pregnancy and childbirth in France, shared by Vaibhav. The article has been published with his permission, along with some important additional information. In this example, both parents have been living in France for the last 4 years. They are a working couple and have Passeport Talent resident permits. 

For all your questions, please feel free to use the comments section below.

Note: VFS process is not applicable for Indian consular services in France since July 2025. Applications are handled directly by Indian Embassy in Paris and Consulate in Marseille.

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Table of Contents

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

Medical Procedures

  • As soon as one is sure about the pregnancy, it is advised to meet your GP (medecin traitant) or a Sage-femme (midwife). You can also find them here annuairesante.ameli.fr. They will prescribe further tests and upon their results, will prescribe any vitamins/nutrient supplements you need to start taking. I would recommend a GP and then choosing a sage-femme of your choice.
  • 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 my wife opted for, didn’t have the ultrasound machine. So we had 2 sage-femmes, but would only see the other one for each trimester scan.
  • 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.

Choosing a Hospital

  • Then, you need to figure out the hospital of your choice. Your sage-femme can recommend some. Also, there could be monthly doctor visits throughout the pregnancy (case-to-case basis).
  • There is no restriction on choosing your hospital, it could be in your area or far from home. Do remember, the good hospitals are pretty booked, and you might even have to wait 3-4 months to get a first RDV. So, plan quickly and schedule the first appointment as early as possible. After that, the hospital takes care of every following RDV.

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.

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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.

Declaration of a newborn child to CPAM

The child’s birth must be declared to CPAM as soon as possible via:

  • Your own Ameli.fr account (under mes démarches)
  • Calling 3646 on your phone.
  • Post by completing form S3705 – Demande de
    rattachement des enfants mineurs à l’un ou aux deux parents assurés, available on ameli.fr website.

Attachment of a newborn child to Parents’ Carte Vitale

  • The child can be added to both parents’ Carte Vitale, regardless of their family situation. Dual attachment makes healthcare access easier and allows the parent taking the child to a consultation to use their Carte Vitale.
  • Reimbursement is made to the account of the parent whose card was used. The request can be made via the Ameli account or by Post by completing form S3705 – Demande de rattachement des enfants mineurs à l’un ou aux deux parents assurés.

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.
 
  • The original birth certificate « Acte de naissance » can be used for the all purposes in France.
  • The apostilled multilingual birth certificate « Extrait d’acte de naissance plurilingue » can be used abroad. It is required for the baby’s Indian Passport application too.
Good to know: Declare birth of the child with every concerned authority – CAF, Ameli (both parents’ accounts), Mutuelle, Impots, Assurance Habitation, etc

Apostille of Birth Certificate

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 and First Passport

Step 1: Apply for registration of birth of new born child by registering at MHA web portal, take print out and sign by both parents. Documents must be uploaded in English only.

Step 2: Apply for Indian passport as explained in How to apply for an Indian Passport or Renewal in France?: Embassy of India in Paris & Consulate in Marseille. Printed passport application form to be signed by both parents on the last page.

Documents to be submitted for Birth Registration:

  • A Miscellaneous Service application duly filled.
  • Two copies of signed (by both parents) MHA registration form.
  • Three photograph conforming to Indian Government norms.
  • Photocopy of both parents passport (first and last pages as well as any pages including any endorsements) and original for verification.
  • Photocopy of  French Residence permit/Visa or Immigration declaration of parents if status not regular in France.
  • Original apostilled birth certificate with English translation by sworn translator in France.
  • Marriage certificate of parents with English translation by sworn translator in France or Affidavit for a single parent where child is born out of wedlock or other parent’s whereabouts is unknown: Annexure ‘C’.
  • Photocopy of one of the following to prove your address: electricity, gas, landline/mobile telephone bill (not more than 6 months old).
  • If the birth registration is applied after one year of birth please fill the “Late Birth Registration Form” (see the bottom of this page).
  • Declaration form: to be filled when submitting any application

Note: Any certificate issued outside of India must be apostilled (with English translation) and submitted in the original. Total fees will be Euro 21 (For Birth Registration) + Euro 42 (For Passport) =Total Euro 63. For more details, eoiparis.gov.in/page/passport-services

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. One or more of the following documents can be submitted as proof of the child’s address,
  • French Birth certificate
  • Attestation des droits from Ameli website.
  • Carnet de santé with vaccination information.
  • Housing insurance attestation
  • Crèche or school certificate
  • CAF attestation
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.

Sources & References

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31 thoughts on “Personal Experience of having a baby in France: Childbirth”

  2. Rupam

    Thanks Prashant & Vaibhav for sharing the details. I have a doubt, I just read in one of the FB post that the «Extrait d’acte de naissance plurilingue » can not be used without translation in VFS. Can you please confirm?

    Reply
    1. Prasanth

      Hello,
      I have already mentioned this in the article “As explained earlier, 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.“

      Reply
  3. Rupam

    Thanks Prashant & Vaibhav for sharing the details. I have a doubt, I just read in one of the FB post that the «Extrait d’acte de naissance plurilingue » can not be used without translation in VFS.
    I mean, there may be 2 possibilities :
    1. Acte de naissance >> Apostille >> Translate >> Submit to VFS
    OR
    2. Extrait d’acte de naissance plurilingue >> Apostille >> Submit to VFS (No translation as it is already having English details)

    Can you please confirm which one to follow ?

    Reply
    1. Prasanth

      Hello,

      Its, 2. Extrait d’acte de naissance plurilingue >> Apostille >> Submit to VFS (No translation as it is already having English details).

      I have already mentioned this in the article “As explained earlier, 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.“

      Reply
  4. Rupam

    Hi Prashant,

    For the Passport police verification topic; on the passport application page the below note is mentioned.

    Note:
    1. Proof of address must be submitted along with the application form if the same is different from the address printed in the previous/latest held passport.
    2. In case you are specifying a foreign address – please refer to the website of the relevant Embassy/Consulate/Outsourced Service Provider (OSP) to check your eligibility (and list of required supporting documents) to get foreign address printed on the passport.
    3. It is mandatory to provide one Indian address in the form for police verification. You can give your parent’s or relatives Indian address in case residing outside India.

    It seems, though you can provide French address but Indian address is mandatory for the Police verification.

    Reply
    1. Prasanth

      Hello Rupam,
      For the Passport and or PCC from Indian Embassy, police verification is done in India. So, they require a local Indian address, where the verification will be done by the nearest police station.

      The French address is required, so the passport can be sent to the local address here by post.

      Reply
  5. Soundar

    Dear Prashanth,

    Thank you very much for this wonderful post. I have a few questions regarding the newborn’s passport.

    1. Is there any photo specification for uploading the photo of the newborn on the MHA website? Can we use the Indian passport size requirement?
    2. Declaration of change on the ANEF website: We were asked to provide housing proof (Veuillez joindre une attestation de la CAF ou un certificat de scolarité au nom de l’enfant). Do you know which of the following I should provide: Attestation de paiement, Attestation de montant net social, or Attestation de quotient familial?
    3. Can we change the situation now on ANEF and request the DCEM once we receive the baby’s passport?
    4. I declared the change of situation to CAF & Ameli last week. Should I wait, or can I already download one of the attestations from CAF and provide it as proof?
    5. Additionally, it was mentioned in the post that both parents should declare the newborn on the Ameli website. However, my wife has already declared our baby’s birth, and it’s awaiting approval. I tried to declare the baby’s birth from my Ameli account, but it’s not accepting the request. Should I wait until my wife’s declaration is accepted, or can I leave it as is?
    6. Could you please list the documents required for birth registration on the MHA website?
    7. The Extrait de Naissance was provided in French. Should we request the document in English and have it apostilled so that we can later use it for the passport application?

    Thank you in advance.

    Reply
    1. Prasanth

      Hello Soundar,

      First, Congrats and my best wises.

      1. AFAIK, its the same photo size.
      2. The docs for address proof are already explained in the article.
      3. You can do them together because its better to wait for the baby’s passport.
      4. If your CAF file is updated correctly, you can start using the attestations.
      5. Declaration of the newborn from one of the parent’s Ameli account is the first step. Wen its done, the other parent can be added by following this procedure https://www.ameli.fr/hauts-de-seine/assure/droits-demarches/famille/maternite-paternite-adoption/declaration-de-son-enfant#
      6. For birth registration on the MHA website, please refer to Chapter 2 in https://www.eoiparis.gov.in/page/passport-services/
      7. The details about the translations are already explained in the article. It was asked by so many people and so the article was updated multiple times about it.

      Cheers,
      Prasanth

      Reply
  6. Soundar

    Thank you very much for your response. I have few additional questions:

    1. Should I select the option “Registration of a minor child under Section 5(1)(d) of the Citizenship Act, 1955” or “Registration of birth of a minor child at an Indian Consulate under Section 4(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955” for the birth registration?
    2. I am currently based in Antibes (near Nice), and there is a cours d’appel available about 150 km from my house to obtain an apostille. Do you know where else we can get the apostille? If we only have the option to send the documents via post to the cours d’appel, should I send the original copies via post (LRAR) for the apostille?
    3. My wife and I are working. We have already informed our HR departments about the conges maternité/paternité and declared the birth of our baby to ameli and CAF. The maternity and paternity leaves were initially planned to start in early February 2025. However, since the baby was born earlier, should we also write a letter to ameli informing them of the paternity/maternity leave?

    Regards,

    Reply
    1. Prasanth

      Hello Soundar,
      1. The answer is in your question itself. It’s section 4. I have updated the article too and highlighted it.
      2. I have clearly mentioned in the article that you don’t have to visit the Cours d’appel for the apostille. It’s done via post.
      3. Declaring the child’s birth to CPAM does the job. I have added 2 more sub-sections in Chapter 3 regarding these questions.

      Cheers,
      Prasanth

      Reply
  7. Soundar

    Hi Prasanth,

    One last question: As you know we normally receive one original copy Acte de naissance & 3-4 copies of Acte de naissance & Extrait de naissance from Mairie. Should we send the original copy of acte de naissance & Extrait de naissance to cours d’appel for apostille? Also, can we send more than one copy of acte de naissance for apostille?

    Kind Regards

    Reply
  8. Rupam

    Thanks again, Prashant, for your generous help. I just wanted to mention something that can sometimes be a bit confusing and may help others.

    When applying for my son’s passport, I initially selected “Citizenship of India by” as REGISTRATION/NATURALIZATION instead of DESCENT; because I thought that I just did his birth registration in the VFS so may be it’s REGISTRATION. On the day of appointment; VFS pointed out that it should have been DESCENT, so I had to cancel my first application and submit a new one.
    Additionally, both parents’ signatures are required under the photo, but I had only included mine at first. Fortunately, I had my laptop with me and there was a nearby printing shop where I could print the updated application, but I still ended up losing about an hour. It could have taken even longer if I hadn’t had my laptop with me.

    Also, just to confirm, the multi-lingual Birth certificate (apostilled) was accepted by VFS, I skipped the translation part.

    Reply
  9. Vicky

    Hello Prasanth,

    Your detailed information on everything is very helpful. I do have a doubt on birth registration process at VFS. Is it possible to contact you ?

    My query is : While booking an appointment at VFS, i am selecting Indian services. However, the booking asks for the passport information. So should i book the appointment with my name & passport details for my child ? Or should I put my child’s name as applicant and my passport details ?

    Reply
  10. Rishi Sharma

    Hello Prasanth,

    Thank you for the information, it is very helpful. Could you please tell me what exactly is CAF attestation, when I click on “MES ATTESTATIONS” on the CAF site, I can see 3 options: i) Attestation de paiement, ii) Attestation montant net social & iii) i) Attestation de quotient familial

    Which one should be used for DCEM applications?

    Thanks and regards…
    Rishi Sharma

    Reply
    1. Prasanth

      Hello Rishi,

      Its the Attestation de quotient familial but you can download all 3 and create a single pdf.

      Cheers,
      Prasanth
      PS: If my articles and answers are helpful, please leave your feedback on Trustpilot

      Reply
  11. Harish KP

    Hi Prasanth,

    A very detailed article which was so helpful for us. Everthing is listed in one place and that helps to have checklist.
    Thanks for that.

    Recently did the birth certificate & passport for my kid.
    Wanted to share the experiece which might be helpful for others.

    1. Most asked question: do we need Translation of Birth certificate issued by mairie to apply for indian birth certificate–> No need of translation & just the multilingual appostiled birth certificate is enough.
    2. from 1st may 2025 appostile procedure is different. It should be done now with notaires and not cours d’appel : https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A18240#:~:text=Ce%20qui%20a%20chang%C3%A9%20au,des%2033%20cours%20d'appel. (maybe Prasanth you have plan to update this in article)
    3. Also as Embassy ending ties with VFS in france so future applications will be with embassy directly. (maybe Prasanth you have plan to update this in article)
    4. If you plan to take the baby’s photo at home and not sure if it is valid then you can mail the photo to passport.paris@mea.gov.in to get approval (I sent and they responded in 3 days)
    5. Also I had an issue with the documents upload during the Birth certificate registratin in MHA website due to which the file was on standby without any communication from embassy/VFS and after multiple failed discussions with VFS had to write directly to oci.paris@mea.gov.in to get updates about the birth certificate to which they responded quickly and solved the issue in 4-5 days.
    6. Passport was proccessed in 15 days (I applied at VFS , but sent a followup mail to passport.paris@mea.gov.in to verify if the file was complete)

    hope its helpful

    Reply
  12. Anil

    Hi Prasanth, Harish,

    Thanks a lot for the detailed steps.

    Since VFS is no longer offering appointments for Birth Registration and new Passport services, should I go ahead and book an appointment directly with the Indian Embassy in Paris?

    Also, while reviewing the Embassy’s website, I noticed that it seems to suggest that Birth Registration and Passport application can be done together. Am I understanding that correctly? Or do I need to complete the Birth Registration first and then apply for the passport separately?

    @Harish – since you’ve gone through this recently, could you please clarify?

    Thanks in advance for your help!

    Best regards,
    Anil

    Reply
  13. Himayath Ali MOHAMMED

    Hello Prashanth,

    Firstly, thank you very much for this wonderful blog.
    I am looking to apostille the acte de naissance and Extrait d’acte de naissance plurilingue for my newborn.
    As I understand correctly from 1st may 2025, it is the notaire either online or by post and not the the court of appeal who will doing this process.
    Could you confirm this?
    I am attaching the links for your reference.

    https://ci-toulouse.notaires.fr/actualite/apostille-et-legalisation-1
    https://apostille.notaires.fr/demande/contact

    Reply
  14. Himayath Ali MOHAMMED

    I have the confirmation from notaire office.
    It can be done online or offline by appointment.

    Apply for your apostille online by following this link:
    https://apostille.notaires.fr/accueil

    Apostille request by appointment
    You can request an appointment by telephone at 05 62 73 58 68.

    Thanks for your time.
    Himayath Ali

    Reply
  15. Hemanth

    Hello Prasanth,

    Thanks a lot. I was following your blog on childbirth in France and all the steps required for an Indian to register the birth and obtain a passport. It has been an extremely useful resource to have, and thanks again for creating such documentation.

    In the section on the apostille of the birth certificate, it is mentioned to contact the Cour d’appel; however, there seems to be an update in the process. As of 01 May 2025, a new process has been set in place. Link below

    https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A18240

    It’s the 15 regional councils or the Interdepartmental Chamber of Competent Notaries who can do the apostle.

    I recently received a send-back from the Cour d’appel and was informed about the new process.

    Additionally, there seem to be digital records of birth certificates available in some Mairie (not in Clermont-Ferrand), which can fast-track the apostle activity.

    I hope this information might be useful.

    Thanks in advance for your help!

    Best regards,
    Hemanth

    Reply
  16. Prasanth

    Article updated with,
    1. New Apostille process applicable since May 2025
    2. VFS process not applicable for Indian consular services in France since July 2025. Applications are handled directly by Indian Embassy in Paris and Consulate in Marseille.

    Reply

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