Pregnancy and childbirth in Greenland
Hospital and clinic conditions in Greenland are very varied, depending on where you live. As a starting point all pregnant women are offered the same examinations, but the process and the birth assistance available will vary depending on whether you live in the capital, in a town on the coast, or in a village without a hospital.
Pregnancy examinations
When you become pregnant, you will be offered a basic package of examinations:
- Blood and urine samples
- Preventive examination for hereditary disease
- Swabbing for sexually-transmitted disease
- Ongoing midwife examinations
The overall examination will give you an overview of your health status, and provide the doctor and midwife with an impression of the expected course of the pregnancy. During your pregnancy you may also be offered ultrasound scanning.
If you are pregnant and live in Nuuk, you can contact the Dronning Ingrid Health Centre. Here you will be given a urine test, and you will then be referred to a midwife who will start a journal.
If you become pregnant in a coastal town, you should contact the outpatient clinic of the local hospital, where you will be examined by a doctor and then referred to a local midwife/obstetrician/healthcare assistant, who will start a journal that will accompany you for the rest of the pregnancy.
If you become pregnant in a village, you should contact the nursing station, where you will be examined and a journal will be started. The healthcare assistant will subsequently contact the nearest hospital and make an appointment for your first doctor and midwife examination. You will then be checked at regular intervals in the village, and 2-3 times at the hospital during your pregnancy.
Childbirth
All births in Nuuk take place at the Dronning Ingrid Hospital. The hospital has a maternity ward with obstetricians and midwives, and there are facilities for undertaking a caesarean section if unexpected complications occur during childbirth.
If you live outside Nuuk and have had a pregnancy without complications, the birth will take place at the nearest hospital.
If you have had a known risk factor during your pregnancy or there is an increased risk of a complicated birth, you will be referred to Nuuk for the birth. You must travel to Nuuk at least three weeks before the expected date of birth, where you will be accommodated either at the hospital or in the Patient Hotel until the birth takes place.
If you are expecting twins, you will be accommodated seven weeks before the expected date of birth.
Travel costs in connections with examinations and childbirth
If you live in a village and need to travel to Nuuk or another town for the pregnancy or birth, the travel expenses of you and your child will be covered. If you wish your partner to accompany you, you will have to pay for your partner’s travel and accommodation expenses yourselves.
If you are expecting twins, your partner’s travel expenses and accommodation will also be covered. You will be accommodated at the hospital or the Patient Hotel seven weeks before the expected date of birth. Your partner can be accommodated three weeks before the birth. If you wish your partner to be there for all seven weeks, you will have to arrange your partner’s accommodation for the first four weeks yourselves.
Please fill in our contact form if you have any questions or if you have encountered an obstacle in another Nordic country.
NB! If you have questions regarding the processing of a specific case or application, or other personal matters, please contact the relevant authority directly.
