What pregnancy care actually costs you in France
“Covered at 100%” is the line everyone repeats, and it is only half true until your sixth month. Declaring the pregnancy puts the compulsory prenatal examinations — the 7 consultations, the entretien prénatal précoce, the screening blood tests — on 100% cover. Checked 22 September 2026.
Ultrasounds are not in that group: the first two, taken before the end of your 5th month, are reimbursed at 70%. From the first day of your 6th month everything changes at once: all your reimbursable medical care goes to 100% whether or not it relates to the pregnancy, with nothing to pay up front (tiers payant), and it stays that way until 12 days after the birth. That is why the third scan is free and the first two are not. 1 thing the 100% never covers is a doctor's fees above the Assurance Maladie tariff (dépassements d'honoraires) — that is what a mutuelle is for.
First prenatal consultation (première consultation prénatale)
French pregnancy care runs on 7 compulsory prenatal consultations, and this is the first of them. It has to happen before the end of the third month, and it is the appointment at which the pregnancy is normally declared. Checked against service-public.gouv.fr on 22 September 2026.
Paperbump schedules this usually between week 6 and week 13 of the pregnancy. What this step involves · service-public.gouv.fr
First ultrasound (échographie de datation)
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. It dates the pregnancy, checks how many babies there are, and includes the nuchal measurement used in first-trimester screening. Checked against service-public.gouv.fr on 22 September 2026.
Paperbump schedules this usually between week 11 and week 14 of the pregnancy. What this step involves · service-public.gouv.fr
Second ultrasound (échographie morphologique)
The detailed anatomy scan, usually between 20 and 24 weeks, counted from your last period as French dating does. It goes through the baby's organs, growth and the position of the placenta. Checked against service-public.gouv.fr on 22 September 2026.
Paperbump schedules this usually between week 20 and week 23 of the pregnancy. What this step involves · service-public.gouv.fr
Third ultrasound (échographie du troisième trimestre)
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. Checked against service-public.gouv.fr on 22 September 2026.
Paperbump schedules this usually between week 30 and week 33 of the pregnancy. What this step involves · service-public.gouv.fr
Monthly prenatal consultations (consultations prénatales mensuelles)
From the fourth month there is 1 compulsory consultation a month until the birth — seven in total across the pregnancy, counting the first. They can be with a midwife, a GP or a gynaecologist, and they are covered at 100% of the Assurance Maladie tariff from the moment the pregnancy is declared. Checked against service-public.gouv.fr on 22 September 2026.
Paperbump schedules this from around week 14 of the pregnancy until the birth. What this step involves · service-public.gouv.fr
Get these dated from your own due date — free, nothing is sent to us