Pregnant in
Germany?

Start with your insurance status – it decides a lot of what follows.

What to sort out first

• Check your insurance status first – gesetzlich (statutory) or privat (private). It decides which doctors take you, what's billed directly vs. reimbursed, and who pays your Mutterschaftsgeld later.
• Find a Frauenarzt / Frauenärztin (gynaecologist) and book your first Vorsorge (checkup) visit. 116117 is the official doctor-search run by the national statutory-doctors' association; Doctolib is a commercial booking tool many practices use, not an official one.
• You'll get a Mutterpass at that first visit – a booklet holding every result until delivery. Carry it to every appointment, including if labour starts unexpectedly.
• Standard checkup schedule: roughly every 4 weeks early on, then every 2 weeks from week 32, with 3 routine ultrasounds (around weeks 9–12, 19–22, and 29–32).

Where to go

Good to know

It's also worth starting to think about a Kinderarzt (paediatrician) before the birth – more on choosing one in the next guide in this series.

Do this early.

What does a Hebamme do?

• Supports you through pregnancy, birth, and the weeks after – checkups alongside your Frauenarzt, birth preparation, and hands-on help with breastfeeding and recovery.
• Most parents in Germany see both a Frauenarzt and a Hebamme, not one instead of the other.

Where can I find one?

Good to know

Start looking as early as you can, ideally as soon as you get a positive test – Hebammen can book up well ahead of the due date. If you can't find one before the birth, hospitals have Hebammen on staff for the delivery itself, and you can keep looking for postpartum (Nachsorge) care afterward.

Tour a few before you decide – most parents do.

Your options

What to compare between hospitals

• Delivery-room setup, and whether midwife-led birth is offered
• Caesarean rates
• Rooming-in with the baby, and space for your partner to stay
• 'Baby-friendly' certification, if that matters to you

Look for a hospital or clinic near you – Munich's official clinic directory (linked below) lists every Frauenklinik in the city, so you don't have to search blind.

Where to read more

Good to know

Reach out to the clinics you're considering directly to ask how they handle registration – some prefer a call, some an email, some their own online form, and it genuinely varies, so check each one's own site first. Most parents also tour a few hospitals' Informationsabend (info evening) before deciding.

Book the course early; if you're unmarried, start the paperwork now too.

What to do

• A Geburtsvorbereitungskurs covers labour stages, pain relief options, breathing and positioning – often with a session for partners.
• Munich's city directory lists providers across the city if you don't already have one through your Hebamme or Frauenarzt.
• If you and your partner aren't married, this is the window to sort Vaterschaftsanerkennung (paternity acknowledgment) and, if you want it, Sorgerechtserklärung (joint custody declaration). Doing this before the birth means the father is entered directly on the birth certificate, avoiding delays afterward.

Where to go

Good to know

The Jugendamt handles both paternity and custody declarations together, free of charge, with appointments any time – book through their contact form. The Standesamt only handles paternity, also free, but appointments open at the earliest 4 weeks before your due date. The mother's written consent is required either way.

Tell your employer in good time – the protection period is fixed by law.

What Mutterschutz covers

• Sets a protected leave period: 6 weeks before your due date and 8 weeks after birth (12 weeks for multiples or a premature birth) – you generally can't be asked to work in that window.
• Restricts certain tasks earlier in pregnancy too – heavy lifting, hazardous substances, night work, and some shift work.
• Dismissal protection runs longer than the paid-leave period – under §17 MuSchG, your employer can't dismiss you during pregnancy, and at minimum until 4 months after the birth.
• You're still protected even if your employer didn't know beforehand – telling them within 2 weeks of receiving a dismissal notice still activates the protection.
• Elternzeit (parental leave) is separate, applied for on its own, with its own notice deadline.

Where to read more

Good to know

Tell your employer as soon as you reasonably can, so the protection applies without needing the 2-week fallback. Elternzeit has its own notice period, separate from Mutterschutz – check both rather than assuming one covers the other.

Three different payments, three different offices – worth understanding before the baby arrives.

What's what

• Mutterschaftsgeld covers your Mutterschutz period. Gesetzlich insured: your Krankenkasse pays it, and your employer tops up the difference to your normal net pay. Privately or family-insured: the Bundesamt für Soziale Sicherung pays a smaller fixed amount instead.
• Elterngeld is separate – a state benefit replacing part of your income once parental leave starts. Applied for after the birth, not before.
• Kindergeld is a separate ongoing monthly payment, administered by the Familienkasse, paid regardless of income for as long as your child qualifies.
• Rates for both change periodically – check the official calculators for current figures rather than trusting a number that might be out of date.

Where to read more

Good to know

If pregnancy puts you in financial hardship, Bundesstiftung Mutter und Kind offers emergency support (protected from creditor claims) – applications go through your local pregnancy counselling office, including Munich's.