Singapore admin steps

Pregnant in Singapore: what to do, week by week

Having a baby in Singapore involves 16 admin steps, spread from about week 8 of the pregnancy to 3 months after the birth. It starts with "Choose where you will have the baby, and book the first appointment" and ends with "Childcare leave: 2 days a year for a non-citizen child". Checked 8 October 2026.

Which ones apply to you depends on 3 questions about your situation, and each one below is checked against an official source and dated.

First trimester, to week 13

• Choose where you will have the baby, and book the first appointment usually between week 8 and week 10 of the pregnancy

  In Singapore the first decision is public or private, and it is worth making before the first appointment rather than after.

• Find out what your health cover actually pays towards the birth usually between week 9 and week 11 of the pregnancy

  Do this before you pick a hospital, not after.

• The scans: dating, first-trimester screening and the anomaly scan usually between week 11 and week 21 of the pregnancy

  General information rather than an official schedule — no Singapore government page sets these weeks, and KKH's package page does not either.

Second trimester, weeks 14 to 27

• Tell your employer, and check which maternity leave you get usually between week 16 and week 18 of the pregnancy · people who are employed

  Your maternity leave depends on the baby's citizenship, not yours.

• Paternity leave: 4 weeks for a citizen child, none by law otherwise usually between week 20 and week 22 of the pregnancy · people who have a partner going through it with them and are employed

  Since 1 April 2025 fathers of a Singapore citizen child get 4 weeks of Government-Paid Paternity Leave, and it is an entitlement now rather than something the employer may allow.

• Get on infant care waiting lists now, or decide on a helper usually between week 20 and week 26 of the pregnancy

  Infant care takes children from 2 to 18 months, and families register during pregnancy.

• Book the hospital and put down the deposit usually between week 22 and week 24 of the pregnancy

  Private hospitals ask you to book the delivery and pay a deposit some months ahead, and popular obstetricians fill up.

• Book antenatal classes usually between week 26 and week 28 of the pregnancy

  Antenatal classes in Singapore are run by hospitals and by private groups, covering labour, pain relief, feeding and the first weeks.

Third trimester, week 28 to the birth

• Decide on a confinement nanny, and sort her work permit early usually between week 28 and week 30 of the pregnancy

  A confinement nanny lives in for the first weeks after the birth, cooks, and looks after the baby at night.

After the birth

• Register the birth within 42 days, on LifeSG within 2 weeks of the birth

  Two different deadlines apply here and they are not in conflict, so it is worth knowing which is which.

• Get the baby a passport from your own country within 3 weeks of the birth

  Being born in Singapore does not by itself make a baby Singaporean — citizenship follows from a parent, and ICA is the authority on how — so for most expat families the child needs a passport from your own country, and the Special Pass issued with the birth registration only lasts 42 days.

• Baby Bonus and the Child Development Account, if the baby is a citizen within 6 weeks of the birth

  This one is for Singapore citizen children: the child has to be a citizen at birth, or become one before turning 12, and the parents have to be lawfully married.

• Apply for the baby's Dependant's Pass before the Special Pass runs out between 7 days and 5 weeks after the birth

  Once the passport exists, your employer applies to the Ministry of Manpower for a Dependant's Pass for the baby through myMOM, in the same way as for a spouse.

• Book the baby's jabs and check-ups between 2 weeks and 8 weeks after the birth

  The first two vaccines, BCG and the first dose of hepatitis B, are given in hospital at birth and recorded in the health booklet you take home.

• Confirm the infant care place, or the helper's arrival between 8 weeks and 3 months after the birth

  Infant care takes babies from 2 months and maternity leave ends at 12 weeks, so the handover lands here.

• Childcare leave: 2 days a year for a non-citizen child between 2 months and 3 months after the birth · people who are employed

  Once you are back at work, the Employment Act gives each parent 2 days of paid childcare leave a year while the child is under 7, if you have served your employer for at least 3 months.

Get these dated from your own due date — free, nothing is sent to us