Families who have chosen a home birth in Slovenia still have to deal with things like registering the baby after the birth. Since everyone’s experience is different, I asked them to share theirs with us. Here’s what they said:
Daniela: “Yes, during pregnancy I arranged everything with the pediatrician and the registry office. After the birth we just called, said the little one was born, and they were expecting us. One visit to the pediatrician, we took her report to the registry office, signed a couple of things, and that was it. I didn’t call the visiting nurse service; the midwife was with me in the days after the birth and there was no need, and we also went to the pediatrician.”
Then I asked her whether she needed any confirmation from the midwife/doctor, and she said: “No, the midwife was a foreign national and I didn’t want her to have anything to do with the Croatian system at all.”
Tadeja: “Hey, before the birth I arranged with my gynecologist that she’d give me a medical certificate. About a week after the birth I went to her with the baby (that was the condition) and the midwife’s birth record, and I got it without any issues. Then we went to the registry office and notified the social work centre. We didn’t call the visiting nurses. Basic postpartum care was done by the midwife; we already knew everything else—it wasn’t our first child.”
Willma: “The first time I went to the maternity hospital an hour after giving birth because I didn’t know I could register the baby myself. I was EXTREMELY happy when I found out I didn’t have to go through that terror again, namely…
The second time I found out how to register the baby myself and did this:
to avoid hassles after the birth, I:
* arranged with the doctor before the birth that they would issue a medical certificate after the birth…
* went to the local administrative unit, to the civil registry department, told them I would be giving birth at home and what they needed for me to register the baby—at first they said it wasn’t possible; when I “quoted the law” to them, they went to their book to check and saw I was right. I did wait about 30–45 minutes for them to verify everything and confirm what I already knew 😉
After the birth, my husband went to the doctor, got the certificate, and with his ID and the medical certificate went to the civil registry department and sorted it out in a few minutes (if I hadn’t been married, he would have needed a paternity certificate too 😉 )
The third time I just arranged it with the doctor before the birth; the rest was already “routine” ;). “
Adds: 451. Civil Register Act
The birth of a child outside a healthcare institution must be reported to the competent authority by the child’s father, or the person the mother lives with, or the mother when she is able to do so.
If the persons from the previous paragraph cannot report the birth, the birth may also be reported by another person who was present at the birth or learned of the birth.
If the reporter is a person from the second and third paragraphs, a doctor’s certificate of the child’s birth must be attached to the birth report.
Article 8 – Deadline for reporting a birth
A child’s birth must be reported within fifteen days of the date of birth.
The birth of a stillborn child must be reported within 24 hours.
If it is not possible to report the birth of a stillborn child within the time limit from the previous paragraph because the competent authority has no office hours, the birth must be reported on the first working day after the deadline expires.
Isabel: “For us, Dad took care of everything: he went to the municipality with the completed maternity record (filled in by the midwife after the birth) and registered the birth there. I then informed our pediatrician and on day 4 we drove to see him. I’d happily have skipped that, but because of Austrian maternity leave I have to have the record completed and all the necessary stamps in it 😀
In week 35 my Slovenian gynecologist sent a visiting nurse to our home, whom I politely turned away. And that was it 😀 oh, and our family doctor also wrote a certificate that it was a natural home birth.”
Urška: “I asked my GP (a family doctor) for a birth certificate—on the Medical Certificate form she wrote: “Partus at home in the presence of a professional.” She signed and stamped it. My husband took that and the maternity record to the registry office. No problems. I arranged with our pediatrician for the newborn’s first check-up at three weeks, because we then went to the seaside for a month. I didn’t call the visiting nurse service.”
The biggest mess was definitely this one:
Mum: “For us, the maternity record and the hospital check-up report weren’t enough, even though at first they said it would be. The report didn’t count because the time of birth wasn’t written on it. Then I went to my GP for a certificate that I was no longer pregnant. That was then OK 🙂 We had the check-up at the maternity hospital on day 5, and the visiting nurse also came 3 times 😉 The gynecologist wasn’t allowed to issue a certificate; they got such instructions at the health centre. Before registering, my partner called the ministry to ask how we could register if there hadn’t been any healthcare professional present (supposedly), and they told him to write a statement. But when he came to the administrative unit with that, the woman there called the same person at the ministry again, a day later, and then said it couldn’t be done and that there had to be a medical certificate.”
