Having a baby in Paris as an Australian

Giving birth in Paris costs very little if you're in the French system. The catch is timing: you book the hospital before most Australians would tell their mum.

The short version

Book your maternité (maternity ward) early, ideally as soon as the pregnancy is confirmed. Popular Paris hospitals fill up months ahead.
Declare the pregnancy before the end of the third month. You're entitled to seven prenatal visits covered by the Assurance Maladie [2], and the birth stay is covered at 100% of the official tariff [3].
Salaried mothers get 16 weeks' maternity leave for a first or second child [4]. Partners get 25 days' paternity leave plus three days' birth leave [5], and a new extra birth leave started in July 2026 [6].
The birth must be declared at the mairie within five days. Most hospitals do it for you [7].
Your baby isn't automatically Australian. You apply for citizenship by descent (form 118, A$380 in 2026) before you can get a passport [8].

Before you're pregnant: get into the system

There is no reciprocal health care agreement between Australia and France [1], so Medicare won't pay for anything here. Everything below assumes you're covered by the French Assurance Maladie through PUMa, ideally with a mutuelle (top-up insurance). If you're still waiting for cover, read our guide to French healthcare, the Carte Vitale and the mutuelle first.

If you arrive already pregnant without French cover, you'll need private insurance. Many policies exclude pregnancy for the first year, so check before you buy. An uninsured birth in a Paris hospital can run into many thousands of euros.

Booking a maternité

This is the step that surprises Australians most. In Paris you register with a maternity hospital early in the pregnancy, often in the first trimester, and the best-known units can be full well before that.

Public, private, and the three levels

French maternity units are graded:

Level	What it has	Good for
Type 1	Standard obstetric care	Low-risk pregnancies
Type 2	A neonatology unit for babies needing extra care	Most pregnancies, some prematurity
Type 3	Neonatal intensive care	High-risk pregnancies, twins, early births

Paris has several large public maternity units run by the AP-HP (the Paris hospitals group), including well-known ones at Port-Royal, Necker and Trousseau. There are also non-profit and private clinics. Public units bill the Assurance Maladie directly. Private clinics may charge extra fees and private-room supplements.

How to choose

Confirm the pregnancy with your GP, a gynaecologist or a sage-femme (midwife). In France, midwives can run the whole follow-up for a low-risk pregnancy.
Shortlist two or three maternités close to home. In labour you'll want to be there fast, and Paris traffic doesn't care.
Book online or by phone straight away. Many use Doctolib or their own forms.
Ask about extras: private room price, whether your mutuelle covers it, partner overnight stays, and epidural availability (very common in France).
Check the language situation. Staff in big Paris hospitals often speak some English, but your paperwork and birth plan will be in French.

What the Assurance Maladie covers

French maternity cover is generous once you're in.

Declaration of pregnancy: Your doctor or midwife sends it before the end of the third month [2].
Seven prenatal visits, the first before the end of the third month [2]. Birth preparation classes led by a doctor or midwife are covered at 100% [2].
From the sixth month to 12 days after the birth, a CAF and Assurance Maladie guide says medical costs are covered at 100% of the official tariff, whether linked to the pregnancy or not [3].
The hospital stay, the delivery and the epidural are covered at 100% of the official tariff, up to 12 days after the birth [3].
Not covered: private rooms, TV and phone. Your mutuelle may pay these [3]. Doctors charging above the official fee can also leave a gap.

Money from the CAF

The CAF (family allowance office) pays a prime à la naissance, a one-off birth grant of €1,084.43 per child in 2026, during the seventh month of pregnancy [3]. It's subject to income limits, so register with the CAF early and check your eligibility.

Maternity, paternity and the new birth leave

Maternity leave (congé maternité)

For salaried women in the private sector [4]:

Situation	Before birth	After birth	Total
1st or 2nd child	6 weeks	10 weeks	16 weeks
3rd child or more	8 weeks	18 weeks	26 weeks
Twins	12 weeks	22 weeks	34 weeks
Triplets or more	24 weeks	22 weeks	46 weeks

You must stop work for at least eight weeks, six of them after the birth. With your health professional's agreement, you can shift up to three weeks from before to after [4].

Your salary stops and the CPAM pays daily allowances based on your last three months' gross pay, with a cap. In June 2026 these ranged from €11.12 to €104.02 a day, paid every 14 days [4]. Some collective agreements top this up to full salary, so check yours.

Paternity and partner leave

Fathers and partners get three working days of birth leave paid by the employer, then 25 calendar days of paternity leave (32 for multiple births). Four days must be taken straight after the birth leave; the other 21 can be taken later, in up to two blocks of at least five days [5].

The new extra birth leave (congé supplémentaire de naissance)

New in 2026: each parent can take an extra one or two months' birth leave after maternity or paternity leave. It's paid by the CPAM at 70% of net salary in the first month and 60% in the second, capped at €4,005 a month [6]. It applies to babies born from 1 January 2026 and could be taken from 1 July 2026. For births from July 2026 it must be used within nine months [6]. Give your employer at least one month's notice in writing.

Compare that with Australia, where Paid Parental Leave is a government payment at the national minimum wage. France pays more of your actual salary, but for shorter blocks.

After the birth: French paperwork

Declaring the birth

The birth must be declared at the mairie of the place of birth within five days, not counting the day of birth [7]. In Paris that means the mairie of the arrondissement where the hospital is, not where you live. Most maternités have a service that does it for you [7]. Otherwise, the father or co-parent goes with:

both parents' ID (passports are fine)
the medical birth certificate from the doctor or midwife
a name-choice declaration, if you made one
any reconnaissance (recognition of the child) made before the birth
your livret de famille, if you have one [7]

Unmarried fathers who haven't recognised the child before the birth need extra paperwork, including proof of address [7]. Do the reconnaissance anticipée at any mairie during the pregnancy to save trouble later.

Order several full copies of the birth certificate (copie intégrale de l'acte de naissance). You'll need them for the Australian side.

Other French admin

Add the baby to your Assurance Maladie and mutuelle.
Tell the CAF about the birth.
A baby born in France to two foreign parents doesn't automatically become French. Rules on French nationality for children born in France are separate and usually depend on later residence.

Making your baby Australian

This is the step to start as soon as you have the French birth certificate. Your baby isn't an Australian citizen automatically, even with two Australian parents.

Check eligibility. At least one parent must have been an Australian citizen at the time of the birth. If that parent is a citizen by descent, extra rules apply about time spent in Australia.
Gather documents: the full French birth certificate with a translation, parents' Australian passports or citizenship evidence, and photos.
Apply online with form 118 through ImmiAccount. The fee is A$380, or A$160 for each extra sibling applying at the same time, under the July 2026 fee schedule [8].
Wait for approval. Citizenship starts from registration, not application.
Apply for a passport through the Australian Embassy in Paris. A child passport (under 16, valid five years) costs A$305 in 2026, paid by credit card in Australian dollars [9].

Our full guide to citizenship by descent for babies born overseas covers the two-year rule and tricky cases.

Planning a trip home to meet the grandparents? Don't book flights until the passport is in hand.

Find other parents

Paris is easier with people who've done it. Ask in Cooee France, our Facebook group for Australians in France, for maternité experiences, midwife recommendations and who to call at the CAF.

Having a baby in Paris: maternity booking, leave and Australian citizenship