Pregnancy and childbirth in Finland

Raskaus ja synnytys Suomessa
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Aditya Romansa on Unsplash
Here you will find information on monitoring pregnancy and chidbirth in Finland.

This article is about monitoring pregnancy and childbirth in Finland. Information on benefits for families with children after giving birth can be found in the article Benefits for families with children in Finland.

Essentially the same rules apply in Åland as in Finland. The differences between the systems in Åland and Finland are dealt with in the article Pregnancy and childbirth in Åland.

Monitoring pregnancy

If your municipality of residence is in Finland, you are entitled to free maternity and child welfare clinic services provided by the municipal healthcare centre during pregnancy and afterwards. If pregnancy progresses normally, at least 8-10 check-ups are provided at a maternity and child welfare clinic with a nurse or doctor. There are at least 15 further postnatal check-ups at the maternity and child welfare clinic.

If you are covered by health insurance in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland and are staying in Finland temporarily, you are entitled to essential medical treatment in Finland, which includes monitoring of pregnancy.

Childbirth

Childbirth is part of the specialised medical care provided by municipal healthcare services to which residents of Finnish municipalities are entitled. If you are staying in Finland temporarily and are covered by health insurance in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland, you are also entitled to maternity care upon payment of the municipal customer fee. The charge for maternity care can vary between municipalities.

If you are covered by health insurance in another Nordic country, you can prove your entitlement to maternity care by producing an official ID card recognised in your home country (e.g. driving licence or passport). You also need to give your permanent address in the other Nordic country. You can also prove your entitlement with a European Health Insurance Card.

If you come to Finland from another EU or EEA country or from Switzerland expressly to give birth, you need prior authorisation for seeking treatment from your home country if you want to get birthing and related treatment in Finland for the municipal customer fee.

More information

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