Families who have chosen a home birth in Slovenia still have to handle matters like baby registration themselves. Since everyone has their own experience, I asked them to share them with us. Here is what they had to say:
Daniela: “During my pregnancy, I arranged everything with the pediatrician and the registry office. After the birth, we just called and said the little one was born, and they were waiting for us. One visit to the pediatrician, we took her report to the registry office, signed a few things, and that was it. I didn’t call the community nurse; my midwife was there in the days after the birth, so it wasn’t necessary, and we also saw the pediatrician.”
Then I asked her if she needed any certificate from a midwife/doctor and she said: “No, my midwife was a foreigner 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 to give me a medical certificate. About a week after the birth, I went to see her with the baby (that was a requirement) and the midwife’s report, and I got it without any trouble. Then we went to the registry office and notified the social work center. We didn’t call the community nurse. The midwife handled the basic postpartum care, and we knew the rest, as it wasn’t our first child.”
Willma: “The first time, I went to the maternity hospital an hour after 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…
The second time, I found out how to register the baby myself and did it like this:
to avoid issues after birth, I:
* arranged with the doctor before birth to issue a medical certificate…
* went to the local administrative unit, registry department, told them I’d be giving birth at home and asked what they needed to register the baby – at first they said it wasn’t possible, but when I ‘quoted the law’ to them, they checked their books and saw I was right. I waited about 30-45 min for them to check everything and confirm what I already knew 😉
After birth, my husband went to the doctor, got the certificate, and went to the registry department with his ID and the medical certificate, settling it in a few minutes (if we weren’t married, he’d also need a paternity certificate 😉 )
The third time, I just arranged it with the doctor beforehand; the rest was already ‘routine’ ;). “
She adds: 451. Civil Register Act
A birth outside a medical institution must be reported to the competent authority by the child’s father, 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, it may also be reported by another person who was present at the birth or who learned of the birth.
If the reporter is a person from the second or third paragraph, a doctor’s certificate of the child’s birth must be attached to the registration.
Article 8 – Deadline for birth registration
A birth must be reported within fifteen days of the day of birth.
The birth of a stillborn child must be reported within 24 hours.
If a stillbirth cannot be reported within the period specified in the previous paragraph because the competent authority does not have office hours, the birth must be reported on the first working day after the deadline.
Isabel: “At our place, Dad handled everything: he went to the municipality with the completed booklet (filled out by the midwife after birth) and registered the birth there. I then notified our private pediatrician and we drove to see him on the 4th day. I would have gladly skipped that, but because of the Austrian maternity leave, I need the booklet filled out with all the necessary stamps 😀
My Slovenian gynecologist sent a community nurse to my home in the 35th week, whom I politely turned away. That was it 😀 oh, and our family doctor also wrote a certificate that it was a natural home birth.”
Urška: “I asked my personal doctor (a family doctor) for a birth certificate – on the Medical Certificate form she wrote: ‘Home birth in the presence of a professional.’ Signed and stamped. My husband took that and the maternity booklet to the registry office. No problems. I arranged the first newborn check-up with our pediatrician at three weeks because we were going to the seaside for a month. I didn’t call the community nurse.”
The biggest mess is definitely here:
Mom: “For us, the maternity booklet and the report from the hospital check-up weren’t enough, even though they said they would be at first. The report wasn’t valid because the time of birth wasn’t written on it. Then I went to my personal doctor for a certificate that I was no longer pregnant. That was fine then 🙂 We had the check-up at the hospital on the 5th day, and the community nurse also came 3 times 😉 The gynecologist wasn’t allowed to issue a certificate; they received such instructions at the health center. Before registering, my partner called the ministry to ask how we could register if no medical professional was present (supposedly), and they told him to write a statement. But when he got to the administrative unit with that, the lady there called the same person at the ministry again, a day later, and she said that wouldn’t work, that there must be a doctor’s certificate.”