Pregnancy & Birth in Spain

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mother and baby

So you have moved to Spain and discover you are pregnant. 

You are in a foreign country and need to decide who is going to care for you over the next 9 months so we have drawn up a check list of what you need to do both during and after your pregnancy.

In the early stages of pregnancy it is recommended you explore the various care options available to you:

  • Where can you  receive the best care during pregnancy
  • Where is the safest place to deliver the baby
  • Who can provide the best post natal care
  • What entitlements can you claim  under the Spanish social health care system
  • What coverage may be provided by private health care
There are public and private clinics all over Spain and the first thing to do when you suspect you might be pregnant is to consult a doctor or midwife and organise routine blood tests and an early ultra sound scan.

 As a general guide pre-natal examinations will be given by a doctor or midwife:

  •  every 4 weeks until week 28
  • every 2 weeks until week 36
  • weekly until delivery
Ensure that your chosen clinic offers a pre-natal education programme which should include what to expect during labour, breathing and relaxation techniques and preparation for feeding your baby.

Although it is rarely possible to choose a particular unit at a Social Security hospital they do offer a very high standard of care, with emergency personnel services available.

In the private sector your obstetrician may only deliver care in one particular unit.

Home births are generally not available in Spain.

Following a normal delivery you and your baby can expect to be discharged home within 24 hours. If you have a Caesarean section then the stay in hospital may be from three to five days.

When you are discharged the paperwork to register the baby, advice on vaccinations, and an infant record book (which records its health from birth to 18 years) is issued.

The following vaccinations are recommended: tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, (Difteria, tétano, tos farina), Haemophilus B (Haemophilus influenzae tipo B), MMR (Sarampión, paperas, rubeola) TB (BCG). 

Births must be registered within eight days at the local civil registry office (Registro Civil). There are two types of certificate:

  •  short/abridged (un extracto de inscripción de nacimiento or certificado simple): contains the date of birth, the names of the child and parents and the inscription number
  • full birth certificates (un certificado literal de nacimiento): full certificates may be needed for registration with the Consulate of a baby born to foreign national resident in Spain

The birth registration includes:

  1. name of the baby
  2. date, time and location of birth. In the case of multiple births, when the exact time is unknown for each new-born, you need to list the order in which they were born, or that this could not be determined
  3. the name and sex of the baby
  4. names of the  parents
  5. the number assigned to the birth or verification file
  6. the time of registration

Birth certificates must state whether a child is legitimate or illegitimate. Children born within 180 days after their parent's marriage, within 300 days of a divorce, a marriage annulment or the death of the father are considered legitimate.

Post natal care tends to be very limited and Spanish social security offers routine six week post natal examination (unless there are complications).

You can find out more about child benefit and statutory maternity leave in our section on child allowances in Spain. for either the baby or the mother the father is entitled to longer leave.

www.mumsinspain.com is an excellent website to learn about different mothers' experiences of giving birth in Spain and it also contains a lot of very useful information