Having a baby in the Netherlands: every admin step, in English
Every official step of having a baby in the Netherlands, in plain English, each one checked against an official source and dated. 25 steps, from register with a midwife practice to get the baby their own passport or id card.
- Register with a midwife practice (verloskundige) usually between week 5 and week 8 of the pregnancy
- Extra scans you pay for yourself (pretecho) usually between week 7 and week 30 of the pregnancy
- Decide about the NIPT and the 13-week scan usually between week 9 and week 14 of the pregnancy
- The dating scan (termijnecho) usually between week 10 and week 14 of the pregnancy
- Arrange maternity care at home (kraamzorg) usually between week 12 and week 16 of the pregnancy
- Decide where you want to give birth usually between week 12 and week 20 of the pregnancy
- The 20-week scan (20 wekenecho) usually between week 18 and week 21 of the pregnancy
- Acknowledge the baby before the birth (erkenning) usually between week 20 and week 34 of the pregnancy
- Choose the baby's surname (naamskeuze) usually between week 20 and week 36 of the pregnancy
- The whooping-cough vaccination in pregnancy (22-wekenprik) usually between week 22 and week 28 of the pregnancy
- Tell your employer when your maternity leave starts usually between week 26 and week 33 of the pregnancy
- Claim maternity pay as a self-employed parent (ZEZ) usually between week 30 and week 34 of the pregnancy
- Get an approved car seat before you need it usually between week 32 and week 36 of the pregnancy
- Pack a bag, and write down what you want usually between week 36 and week 38 of the pregnancy
- Register the birth at the municipality (geboorteaangifte) within 3 days of the birth
- Partner's birth leave (geboorteverlof) within 4 weeks of the birth
- Partner's extra birth leave (aanvullend geboorteverlof) within 6 months of the birth
- Paid parental leave (betaald ouderschapsverlof) within 1 year of the birth
- Add the baby to your health insurance within 4 months of the birth
- Claim childcare benefit (kinderopvangtoeslag) within 6 months of the birth
- Sort out the baby's nationality and papers with your own country within 4 months of the birth
- Heel prick and hearing test (hielprik en gehoortest) between 1 day and 7 days after the birth
- The child health clinic (consultatiebureau) between 10 days and 9 weeks after the birth
- Claim child benefit (kinderbijslag) between 2 weeks and 6 weeks after the birth
- Get the baby their own passport or ID card between 2 weeks and 1 year after the birth
Start from where you are
- What to do, week by week every step in the order it happens, by trimester and after the birth
- Pregnant in the Netherlands: the first 5 things to do 5 steps, each with its own verified answer
- Maternity leave in the Netherlands: how long and who pays 7 steps, each with its own verified answer
- Maternity pay in the Netherlands: what you get paid 2 steps, each with its own verified answer
- Paternity leave in the Netherlands: what a partner gets 3 steps, each with its own verified answer
- After your baby is born in the Netherlands: what to do 8 steps, each with its own verified answer
- Having a baby in the Netherlands when you are not married 3 steps, each with its own verified answer
Before any of it
- Dutch pregnancy and baby words, in English 23 words you will meet, explained
- The deadlines that actually matter the 9 with a real consequence for missing them
- What it costs to have a baby in the Netherlands what the whole list comes to, new and second-hand
- What to buy for a baby in the Netherlands all 24 things, priced, and which are fine second-hand
- What childcare costs, and what you get back the 2026 capped rates, and the two caps nobody mentions
Get these dated from your own due date