Admin - your step by step guide
Expecting a baby in Belgium means you are about to be inundated with admin and paperwork, but knowing what to do and when can make it easier. This page outlines the main tasks to complete as your pregnancy moves along.
Some topics apply to everyone, while others focus on employees and self-employed people in Belgium.
If you work for an EU or international organization, check with your HR department about your rights and benefits regarding leave and allowances.
Telling Your Employer
If you're an employee, inform your employer about your pregnancy as soon as you can. This protects you from being made redundant due to pregnancy-related reasons and up until one month after your maternity leave ends. You can give your HR department a letter and ask them to sign it or send a registered letter instead.
If you are pregnant with one baby, inform your employer no later than 7 weeks before your due date.
If you are pregnant with more than one baby, inform your employer no later than 9 weeks before your due date.
Early Pregnancy
NOTE!
Your employer cannot ask you to do overtime while you are pregnant, plus you have the right to attend prenatal medical appointments during working hours, with no impact on your salary, provided these can’t take place outside work hours.
Maternity Leave
Whether you're employed or self-employed, you don't have to finalize your post-birth leave plans right away. However, it's wise to explore your options, as this can affect when you'll need daycare.
If you're an employee, maternity leave is 15 weeks (17 for a multiple birth) but some mums decide to add an extra month or months using:
parental leave ('congé parental' / 'ouderschapsverlof'); or
career break ('credit temps’ / ‘tijdskrediet’).
If you're self-employed, you're entitled to between 3 and 12 weeks of paid maternity leave (13 weeks for a multiple birth).
NOTE!
You don’t need to inform your health insurance fund (‘mutuelle’ / ‘ziekenfonds’) yet about your pregnancy, whether you’re an employee, self-employed or unemployed. This comes later, around one month before you stop working / before your due date.
Daycare - your search begins
If you are planning to go back to work after your baby is born it's time to think about what kind of childcare you’ll be needing, and when. If you need a spot in a creche or with a childminder, you need to start looking now! Daycare places in Brussels are at a premium!
Communal creches may have stricter rules about when you can officially request a place, and in French-speaking creches you have to wait until the beginning of the fourth month of pregnancy. In Dutch-speaking creches you can request a place as soon as you discover you're pregnant.
With private creches, you can also request a place as soon as you discover you're pregnant.
Birth Allowance
Apply for your ‘birth allowance’ ('prime de naissance' / 'kraamgeld') from one of the family allowance funds. The birth allowance is a one-off payment of around €1300 per child (in Brussels, the amount for subsequent births is less), paid by the state. You’ll receive the amount at the earliest two months before your estimated due date.
From 6 months pregnant…
Check your ‘Top Insurance’ Policy
If you have 'top-up' hospitalisation insurance, whether via your employer or privately, make sure to check what coverage you have for pregnancy- and birth-related costs, and find out what documents you need to fill in and when.
Many cover ALL maternity-related costs incurred in the month before the birth and up to three months after the birth. And there may be other advantages worth knowing about!
Apply for ‘Kraamzorg’ Care
As from 20 weeks of pregnancy, if you live in Brussels or Flanders, you can apply for maternity assistance ('kraamzorg') after the birth of your baby – think of this as an extra pair of hands. You can benefit from the care from 1 month before the birth to 3 months after. The cost is based on your taxable income.
In the event of a difficult pregnancy, you are entitled to help from six months onwards, subject to a doctor's prescription.
To arrange kraamzorg care, you can contact:
Expertisecentrum kraamzorg (Brussels and every Flemish city has one of these 'expertise centres')
Declaring Parentage
If you and your partner are not married, it's a good idea to think about already making a ‘declaration of parentage’, so you don’t have to deal with this when registering your baby’s birth
Hospital Pre Admission?
Check the pre-admission requirements with your hospital, so you know what documents you need to fill in and when.
Check up on Daycare Requests
If you’re on a waiting list for a daycare place, confirm with them that you still need the place. They will let you know whether they can definitely welcome your baby, whether you are still on the waiting list, or whether they have refused the request.
Inform Your Health Insurance Fund
Send a medical certificate indicating your estimated due date and the start date of your maternity leave to your health insurance fund – they will then send you the relevant paperwork in relation to your maternity leave rights and payments.
If you're self-employed, you'll also need to provide details of the 'mandatory' and 'optional' leave you plan to take.
Confirm Maternity Leave Start Date
If you haven't already done so, confirm the start of maternity leave with your employer, ideally one month before you plan to stop working. Remember that one week of maternity leave is considered as ‘mandatory’ prenatal leave, and can only be taken before the birth. You can start your maternity leave a maximum of 6 weeks (8 weeks for multiples) before the expected due date.
Be warned that if your baby is born early, before the planned start of your maternity leave, you essentially ‘lose’ the one mandatory week of leave.
Last Weeks of Pregnancy
Self-Employed? Request Free Service Cheques
If you're self-employed and meet the conditions to receive paid maternity leave, you’re entitled to 105 hours of service cheques ('titres services' / 'dienstencheques') that you can use to pay for household help (e.g. cleaning, ironing, cooking) after the birth of your baby.
You apply for this via your social security fund – procedures differ slightly between funds, so check with your own
Co-Parent Leave
Fathers / co-parents who are employees or self-employed are entitled to 20 days of paid birth leave. For employees, there's no formal procedure for applying to take birth leave. Some may ask to see a copy of the birth certificate (‘attestation de naissance’ / ‘geboortebewijs’).
Employee fathers / co-parents need to request a form from their health insurance fund (‘mutuelle’ / ‘ziekenfonds’) and send it back with a copy of the birth certificate. While self-employed fathers / co-parents need to liaise with their social insurance fund (‘caisse d’assurances sociales’ / ‘sociaal verzekeringsfonds’).
Register Your Baby’s Birth
Register your baby's birth at the commune in which they were born – check in advance with the commune which documents you will need. Some hospitals have a special counter where you can do this. If you and your baby's co-parent are not married, and you have not declared parentage before the birth, you'll both need to be present to register your baby. Otherwise, your partner can do it alone.
After Your Baby is Born
Arrange Breastfeeding Breaks
If you want to take advantage of breastfeeding breaks when you return to work:
inform your employer of this two months before you go back to work – it’s best to do this via a registered letter, or to ask written confirmation that they have received your request.
inform your health insurance fund, who will provide you with a document ‘attestation mensuelle portant sur l’indemnité pour les pauses d’allaitement’, or the equivalent in Dutch.
Forgot About The Birth Allowance?
If for whatever reason you didn't request the birth allowance before the birth, you can also request it after the birth. The rules for the timing of requests after the birth vary per region, so make sure not to miss out!
Send The Birth Certificate…
Within one month of the birth, send your baby's birth certificate (‘extrait d’acte de naissance’ / ‘geboorteaangifte’) to your health insurance fund for the calculation of the end date of your maternity leave, to register your baby with your fund, and to receive the various advantages your health insurance fund offers, such as a welcome bonus, free domestic help vouchers etc.
Tell Your Insurance Of Your Return to Work
If you're an employee, within 8 days of resuming work/unemployed status, send your mutuelle the document ‘avis de reprise de travail ou de chômage’/‘attest van werkhervatting of werkloosheidshervatting’ (notice of resumption of work or unemployment).
If you're self-employed, you don't need to inform your health insurance fund when you resume work.
Read more about the administration and costs necessary when having a baby in Belgium: