Preparing for your baby’s arrival in France: bearings for expat parents-to-be
Your baby is coming soon: how do you feel ready?
From pregnancy to the first days with your baby, PREPARE helps you understand what lies ahead and find your first bearings as a parent in France.
For expat families, this preparation goes well beyond the baby’s arrival. It also means understanding how the French healthcare system works, getting a clearer picture of maternity care, knowing what to expect during your hospital stay and anticipating the first days with your newborn.
PREPARE is designed to help you approach this stage with concrete bearings, reliable information and more confidence.
What matters most to expat parents-to-be before the baby arrives
Expecting a baby in France as an expat raises a lot of questions. Beyond the pregnancy itself, you also have to understand the French perinatal care journey, anticipate your maternity stay and prepare for the first days with your newborn.
For expat families, the main challenges are usually to:
Understand the perinatal care journey in France
Discover how the French healthcare system works, which formalities to anticipate during pregnancy, and what to expect from your medical follow-up and your maternity stay.
Prepare for your baby’s arrival and the first days after the birth
Anticipate the maternity stay, coming home and the early postpartum days with more bearings and more confidence.
Prepare for the first choices around your baby
Better understand the options around infant feeding, breastfeeding and the first choices that come with the transition into parenthood.
An approach designed for expat families in France
PREPARE does not replace your medical follow-up. It complements it, with reliable information, practical resources and a space to talk, so you understand what lies ahead and move forward with more confidence.
Renésens offers personalised support, in English and in French, adapted to the realities of expat parents-to-be: understanding the French perinatal care journey, preparing for the first moments with your baby and finding your bearings in a new environment.
More than a series of services, PREPARE is designed as a safe space where you can ask your questions freely, be guided through what you are wondering about, and live this transition into parenthood with greater peace of mind.
PREPARE is particularly suited if you want to…
- Understand how the French perinatal care journey works before your baby arrives
- Feel more prepared for the first stages of your parenthood in France
- Know what to expect during your maternity stay and the first days with your newborn
- Anticipate coming home and better understand what the postpartum period involves
- Be supported with your questions around infant feeding and breastfeeding
- Have resources and support in English or in French, adapted to expat families
Preparing for your baby’s arrival in France: the guide, the Prep’Classes and personalised support
Having a Baby in France Guide
The guide to having a baby in France as an expatA practical guide to the essential landmarks of the French perinatal care journey: pregnancy follow-up, the maternity ward, your hospital stay, formalities and the first days with your baby.
Prep’Classes
Birth preparation classes in English for expat parents-to-be in FranceClasses designed to complement the courses offered by maternity wards and help expat families understand what lies ahead, before and after their baby’s birth.
Becoming a Family Coaching
Coaching for parents-to-be: preparing emotionally to become a parentSupport for parents-to-be who want to explore their apprehensions, their expectations and their vision of parenthood, to approach this transition with more confidence and peace of mind.
Individual Preparation Session
Tailor-made one-to-one time to prepare for your baby’s arrival, adapted to your needsEvery family lives a baby’s arrival in its own way. This session goes deeper into the topics that concern you, answers your specific questions and builds bearings suited to your life as expat parents-to-be in France.
Prenatal Breastfeeding Consultation
One-to-one support to build your breastfeeding plan on reliable foundationsA personalised consultation to better understand how breastfeeding works, ask your questions and prepare your plan calmly — exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding, exclusive pumping, or any other approach that suits your needs.
Ready to prepare calmly for your baby’s arrival?
Understanding the French perinatal care journey, knowing what to expect during your maternity stay and anticipating the first days with your baby all help you approach this new stage with more confidence.
Renésens is by your side to give you reliable bearings, answer your questions and help you prepare for your child’s arrival in France.
FAQ
Do the Prep’Classes complement the courses offered by my maternity ward?
Yes. The Renésens Prep’Classes do not replace the birth preparation courses offered by your maternity ward or your midwife. They complement them, covering topics that often get little attention: how the French perinatal care journey works, the maternity stay, coming home, the postpartum period, breastfeeding, and what parenthood involves specifically when you live in France as an expat family.
Are the Prep’Classes open to both parents?
Yes. Parents-to-be are encouraged to attend together. Becoming a parent is a transition you go through as a couple, and sharing the same information helps you prepare better, talk about what each of you expects and approach your baby’s arrival with more peace of mind.
Are the Prep’Classes available in English?
Yes. Every Prep’Class is offered in English and in French, so that each family can attend in the language they feel most comfortable in.
The aim is that language never gets in the way of understanding the French perinatal care journey, or of asking all your questions with confidence.
When should I start the Prep’Classes and the Renésens support during pregnancy?
The Prep’Classes and the Renésens support offers can start at different points in your pregnancy, depending on your needs and on the topics you want to cover.
There is usually no need to wait for the last weeks of pregnancy to start preparing. Planning ahead lets you understand the French perinatal care journey, ask your questions as they come and approach your baby’s arrival with more confidence.
We often recommend starting the Prep’Classes during the second or third trimester, so you have time to take the information in and prepare calmly for the first days with your baby.
What is the difference between a Prep’Class and an individual consultation?
The Prep’Classes are group classes that cover a specific topic with other parents-to-be.
Individual consultations cover the same broad themes, but in a fully personalised format. They give you dedicated time to answer your questions, go deeper into certain topics and adapt the advice to your situation, your plans and your needs.
Can I choose an individual consultation instead of a Prep’Class?
Yes. Some families prefer one-to-one support, whether for practical reasons, for privacy, or because they want to go deeper into a particular situation.
Consultations cover the main themes of the Prep’Classes while adapting them to your own journey and your own questions.
Can I get specific support around breastfeeding?
Yes. Renésens offers consultations dedicated to breastfeeding, during pregnancy as well as after the birth.
These consultations are a chance to talk through your breastfeeding plan, answer your questions and support you with the first difficulties or with the way your journey evolves (mixed feeding, going back to work, using a breast pump, weaning, and so on).
What is in the Having a Baby in France Guide?
The guide brings together everything you need to understand the French perinatal care journey as an expat.
It follows you from pregnancy to the first days with your baby, covering pregnancy follow-up, choosing a maternity ward, your hospital stay, administrative formalities, coming home, going back to work after maternity or paternity leave, and plenty of practical advice to take your first steps into parenthood with more confidence.
Is the guide suitable for families who do not speak French?
Yes. The guide was designed specifically for international families living in France. It explains how the French system works in plain language, and highlights the cultural differences that can take expat parents-to-be by surprise.
Do the Renésens consultations replace my medical follow-up?
No. The Renésens support offers complement the follow-up provided by your midwife, your doctor or your maternity ward.
Their purpose is to give you additional information, a space to be heard and personalised support, so you can live this period with greater peace of mind.
Are the Renésens support offers reimbursed by the Sécurité sociale (French state health insurance)?
The Renésens support offers are not currently covered by the Sécurité sociale.
Depending on your policy, some mutuelles — the complementary health insurers — may reimburse part of the cost. Do check directly with your own provider.