Pregnant in Finland

If you have found out that you are expecting a baby in Finland congratulations! Finland has one of the worlds best healthcare
and social systems, so you are in good hands. Here are some tips
that might help you during this important period for your family:

Contact the maternity clinic (itiysneuvola) in your own municipality.

A maternity clinic will provide you with guidance in all matters related
to pregnancy, and information about various services offered by the
society, and they will monitor your health. You can read more about
maternity clinic services here, here and on this page.

You should have your first medical examination before the end of
your fourth month of pregnancy in order to get a certificate confirming your pregnancy. You will need this when applying for a maternity
grant (itiysavustus) and maternity allowance (itiysraha) from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela). You can find more information about the allowances for pregnant women here.

The website of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (Sosiaali- ja

terveysministeri) provides an outline of maternity and child health
clinics in Finland that you can find here. Besides general useful facts
and recommendations about pregnancy and baby care, in this brochure you will find the information about social protection of families
in Finland.

If you are expecting a baby and you feel that you cannot cope by
yourself, you can contact a mother and child home (ensikoti). Mother
and child homes provide help with parenthood and life management.

In Finland, women usually give birth at a hospital. Home birth is also

possible but it is not included in public health care services and it is
not recommended. Here you can find the list of hospitals in Finland.

Every child receives a maternity package that includes childrens

clothes and other necessary items, such as bedding, cloth nappies,
gauze towels and child-care products. You can also choose to have
a maternity grant of EUR 140 instead of the maternity package, but
most mothers choose the package.

Learnmera Oy
Info4Migrants

www.thelanguagemenu.com
www.info4migrants.com

I4M project number:

UK/13/LLP-LdV/TOI-615

Pregnant in Finland

Do not forget to inform your employer about the coming changes.

Give your employer a written notification at least two months before
you begin your maternity leave.

After the child is born, usually either the mother or the father will
stay at home and take care of the baby for some time. Kela will pay
him or her various types of parenthood allowances (vanhempainpivraha) for this period. You can calculate your parental allowance
here (only in Finnish). Learn more about the benefits for families with
children on Kelas pages.

If you choose not to have a child and need to get an abortion, read
more here.

If you want to learn more about adopting a child in Finland, this information can be found here, here (in Finnish), here, and here (in
Finnish). A person or family adopting a child receives a grant from
Kela.

You can find various organizations that offer individual and group
support services for girls and women, including young mothers, eg
here and here.

Read more information about living in Finland here.

Learnmera Oy
Info4Migrants

www.thelanguagemenu.com
www.info4migrants.com

I4M project number:

UK/13/LLP-LdV/TOI-615