Having a Baby in France

No, I'm not pregnant again

I regularly get asked about my experience having babies in France so I thought I’d share some snippets here, bearing in mind that everyone’s journey to pregnancy, birth and beyond is vastly different. If you are pregnant or have a little one in Paris please feel free to get in touch via the comments, I’d love to hear from you and am happy to answer any questions.

- Emily

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Naively, especially for someone who’s dealt with French administration, when I got pregnant I assumed it would be a simple process. Mais non. Not groundbreaking news, but when you’re newly pregnant in a foreign country everything seems enormous and I frequently burst into tears (not acceptable in public here, even when pregnant) when I was told off for a number of things: I’d sat in the wrong chair, I’d been weighed before they took my blood pressure, I wasn’t immune to toxoplasmosis (apparently my fault for not owning cats), I hadn’t passed by Bureau 3 (which I never found).

Things I’d placed enormous importance on (influenced by TV I guess), like the classes where my husband would practice being supportive while I hoo-ed and haa-ed (and where I’d planned to make some new friends) weren’t an option.  “Don’t go to the classes the hospital provides, they’re terrible” the doctor said in passing. When I asked where I was supposed to make some mum friends she just looked at me blankly and walked off.