Pregnant in France: what to do, week by week
Having a baby in France involves 21 admin steps, spread from about week 6 of the pregnancy to 9 months after the birth. It starts with "Declare your pregnancy (déclaration de grossesse)" and ends with "Check what the baby needs to stay legally (titre de séjour, DCEM)". Checked 23 September 2026.
Which ones apply to you depends on 4 questions about your situation, and each one below is checked against an official source and dated.
First trimester, to week 13
- Declare your pregnancy (déclaration de grossesse) usually between week 6 and week 14 of the pregnancy
This is the one that starts everything else.
- First prenatal consultation (première consultation prénatale) usually between week 6 and week 13 of the pregnancy
French pregnancy care runs on 7 compulsory prenatal consultations, and this is the first of them.
- Register with the Assurance Maladie, and get your number usually between week 7 and week 12 of the pregnancy · people who moved to France from another country
Send the Cerfa S1106 and a temporary social security number, the NIA, comes back to you by post — and your care is reimbursed on it while you wait.
- Acknowledge the baby before the birth (reconnaissance anticipée) from around week 10 of the pregnancy until the birth · people who are not married, PACS included and have a partner going through it with them
If you are not married, the mother's link to the baby is automatic and the other parent's is not.
- First ultrasound (échographie de datation) usually between week 11 and week 14 of the pregnancy
The first of the 3 ultrasounds offered during a French pregnancy, usually between 11 and 13 weeks — counted from your last period, as French dating does, which runs about 2 weeks ahead of “weeks pregnant” in English.
Second trimester, weeks 14 to 27
- Early prenatal interview (entretien prénatal précoce) usually between week 14 and week 18 of the pregnancy
A long appointment that is not a medical examination: it is a conversation, usually with a midwife, about how the pregnancy is going for you — at home, at work, in your head.
- Monthly prenatal consultations (consultations prénatales mensuelles) from around week 14 of the pregnancy until the birth
From the fourth month there is 1 compulsory consultation a month until the birth — seven in total across the pregnancy, counting the first.
- Start looking for childcare (mode de garde) usually between week 14 and week 20 of the pregnancy
Paperbump's advice, not an administrative step: there is no official deadline here and no official page setting one.
- Second ultrasound (échographie morphologique) usually between week 20 and week 23 of the pregnancy
The detailed anatomy scan, usually between 20 and 24 weeks, counted from your last period as French dating does.
- Birth grant (prime à la naissance) usually between week 26 and week 28 of the pregnancy
A one-off CAF payment of 1 093,11 €, paid before the last day of the month following your sixth month of pregnancy.
Third trimester, week 28 to the birth
- Arrange your maternity leave (congé maternité) usually between week 28 and week 32 of the pregnancy · people who are employed (salarié)
For a first baby the legal maternity leave is 16 weeks: 6 before the due date and 10 after.
- Third ultrasound (échographie du troisième trimestre) usually between week 30 and week 33 of the pregnancy
The last of the three, usually in the third trimester, around 32 weeks counted from your last period — that timing is normal practice rather than a rule on any official page.
After the birth
- Declare the birth at the mairie (déclaration de naissance) within 5 days of the birth
The birth is declared at the mairie of the place the baby was born.
- Declare the birth to the Assurance Maladie (déclaration de son enfant) within 2 weeks of the birth
Registering the birth at the mairie does not tell the Assurance Maladie.
- Partner's leave (congé paternité et d'accueil de l'enfant) within 6 months of the birth · people who have a partner going through it with them and are employed (salarié)
3 days of birth leave from the employer, then 25 calendar days of paternity leave — 28 in all for a single birth, and more for multiples.
- Supplementary birth leave (congé supplémentaire de naissance) within 9 months of the birth · people who are employed (salarié)
A right that only came in on 1 July 2026, so most guides — and plenty of employers — have not caught up.
- Get your carte Vitale, and check the baby is on it between 7 days and 6 weeks after the birth
The carte Vitale is what makes reimbursement automatic: it attests your registration and your rights, and it works anywhere in metropolitan France and the overseas departments and regions (Drom).
- Check the CAF knows the baby has arrived between 7 days and 8 weeks after the birth
The CAF asks you to declare the birth yourself, and promptly: that is what opens your entitlements — the PAJE basic allowance, the childcare supplement, family allowances.
- Get the baby a passport from your own country between 7 days and 3 months after the birth · people who moved to France from another country
A baby born in France to two foreign parents is not automatically French.
- Claim help with childcare costs (CMG) between 4 weeks and 6 months after the birth
The complément de libre choix du mode de garde is the CAF's contribution to what childcare costs you, whether that is an assistante maternelle, a micro-crèche or care at home.
- Check what the baby needs to stay legally (titre de séjour, DCEM) between 4 weeks and 6 months after the birth · people who moved to France from another country
The rules depend on your own nationality.
Get these dated from your own due date — free, nothing is sent to us