Having a baby in Germany as an expat

Who does what in Germany

Most of the confusion foreign parents run into in Germany comes from mixing up separate offices, each with its own forms and deadlines. Here is the map.

Pregnancy care: what to expect

Prenatal care is usually led by a gynaecologist in private practice; you do not need a referral. At your first appointment you usually receive the Mutterpass, the booklet in which every result is recorded. According to the federal health portal, check-ups are every four weeks, then every two weeks from week 32, and there are three standard ultrasounds: weeks 9 to 12, weeks 19 to 22, and weeks 29 to 32. Midwives can carry out many check-ups too, except ultrasounds and some special tests.

With statutory insurance, the law lists what is covered for pregnancy and motherhood: medical and midwife care, medicines and aids, the birth, home care, household help and Mutterschaftsgeld. Some extra tests (for example toxoplasmosis screening without a medical reason) are self-pay services called IGeL: you decide, and you pay.

If you are privately insured, read your contract for a waiting period for childbirth (Wartezeit für Entbindung). The Insurance Contract Act allows one, but caps it at eight months.

Find a midwife now

Your Hebamme is the person who visits you at home after the birth, weighs your baby and helps with feeding and recovery. Statutory insurance covers midwife care in the postpartum weeks up to twelve weeks after the birth. Midwives are often fully booked, so the federal health portal advises starting your search early in pregnancy and contacting several at once. Our guide to finding a Hebamme has the official search tools and a message you can copy.

Where you can give birth

The law gives you the choice of a hospital birth (with an overnight stay or as an outpatient), a birth centre (Geburtshaus), a midwife's practice or a home birth. Most women in Germany give birth in hospital. Birth centres are usually midwife-led and cannot offer an epidural or caesarean, so they suit low-risk pregnancies; a home birth is an option only if no risks are foreseen.

Your rights at work

Under the Maternity Protection Act, your employer may not employ you in the last six weeks before the expected birth unless you expressly choose to work, and may not employ you at all for eight weeks after the birth, or twelve weeks after a premature or multiple birth. You are protected from dismissal from the start of pregnancy until at least four months after the birth. Since June 2025, women who have a miscarriage from week 13 also have protection periods of two to eight weeks. Details and pay are in our Mutterschutz guide.

During those weeks, statutory members who are employed receive Mutterschaftsgeld of up to 13 euros a day from the Krankenkasse, and the employer pays the difference to their average net pay. Privately insured or family-insured employees receive up to 210 euros in total from the Federal Office for Social Security, plus the employer's top-up.

After Mutterschutz, each parent can take Elternzeit, job-protected leave until the child's third birthday, with notice in writing seven weeks before it starts.

Elterngeld and Kindergeld: where residence titles matter

Elterngeld replaces 67 percent of your lost net income as a rule (up to 100 percent for low incomes, down to 65 percent for higher ones), with a minimum of 300 euros and a maximum of 1,800 euros a month of Basiselterngeld. Parents share 12 months, plus 2 partner months if both reduce their work; ElterngeldPlus stretches it at half the amount. There is no Elterngeld above a taxable income of 175,000 euros (both parents together for a couple). Apply after the birth, within three months, because it is paid back only three months.

For non-EU nationals, eligibility depends on the residence title printed on your card: a settlement permit, an EU long-term residence permit, an EU Blue Card, an ICT card or a residence permit allowing work for at least six months generally qualify; some training, au pair and job-search permits do not. Our Elterngeld for foreigners guide has the full table from the law.

Kindergeld is 259 euros a month per child as of October 2026. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who live or work in Germany can receive it; other nationals need a qualifying title, similar to Elterngeld. Apply to the Familienkasse with your baby's tax ID; it is paid back at most six months.

After the birth: your baby's papers

1. Birth registration. The birth must be reported to the Standesamt of the place of birth within one week. Hospitals and birth centres usually do this; you bring the documents (passports, birth and marriage certificates, sworn translations, sometimes an apostille).
2. Health insurance. Statutory: apply for free family insurance with the birth certificate. Private: register the baby within two months of the birth.
3. Elterngeld and Kindergeld. Apply in the first weeks.
4. Passport. From your embassy or consulate, following its own rules.
5. Residence title. If both parents hold a residence permit, settlement permit or EU long-term residence permit, the baby is granted a residence permit ex officio; otherwise, apply within six months of the birth.

A newborn living with its parents does not need its own address registration: the Standesamt informs the registration office. Everything is explained step by step in our birth registration guide.

Will my baby be German?

A child born in Germany becomes German if a parent is German, or if one foreign parent has had lawful habitual residence in Germany for five years and holds an unlimited right of residence (Nationality Act, section 4). If so, it is entered in the birth register. Ask your embassy whether your baby can also keep your nationality.

Unmarried parents

If you are not married, the father can acknowledge paternity before the birth, with the mother's consent, and both parents can make joint custody declarations; both must be publicly certified, for example at the youth welfare office (Jugendamt). Without a custody declaration, marriage or a court decision, the mother has sole custody. The acknowledgment is also needed for the father's Elterngeld application.

Other countries

Moving, or comparing? See our guides for expat parents in the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Singapore and the UAE, or the expat hub.

The Germany guides

Questions parents ask

Sources

1. gesund.bund.de (Federal Ministry of Health) — Prenatal care, check-ups and counseling checked October 13, 2026
2. gesund.bund.de — Preparing for birth checked October 13, 2026
3. Mutterschutzgesetz, section 3 — Protection periods before and after the birth checked October 13, 2026
4. Familienportal des Bundes — Mutterschaftsleistungen checked October 13, 2026
5. BEEG, section 1 — Elterngeld eligibility, residence titles and income limit checked October 13, 2026
6. BEEG, section 2 — Amount of Elterngeld checked October 13, 2026
7. Familienportal — Was ist Kindergeld? (259 euros per child) checked October 13, 2026
8. Personenstandsgesetz, section 18 — Reporting a birth within one week checked October 13, 2026
9. Aufenthaltsgesetz, section 33 — Birth of a child in Germany checked October 13, 2026
10. Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, section 4 — Citizenship by birth checked October 13, 2026

Read next