Birth In Tenerife - information on pregnancy, birth and paperwork

This page will attempt to deal with all aspects of having a baby in Tenerife, covering the pregnancy, the birth and the paperwork involved afterwards (but omitting the conception - you can deal with that yourself).

If you're an immigrant to the island (or even just on holiday) and are faced with having the birth there, you may, understandably, be a little apprehensive about what to expect. Will the procedures be different from your home country? How will you communicate, if you can't speak Spanish? Well, read on; this may help.

Pregnancy

If you discover that you are pregnant, you must first visit your doctor. He or she will initially perform some tests (probably involving a blood and/or urine test) to determine how far gone you are.

It is likely, for prenatal care, if you are using the public service offered by Spanish social security, that you will be referred to the gynaecological department at a hospital.

In the south, this will be Hospiten Sur (aka "Green Hospital") in Playa de Las Americas; in the north, it will be the large hospital at Candelaria. On average, you will have three scans during the pregnancy.

If, however, you are "going private", you will be able to have scans on a monthly basis.

At Hospiten Sur, many of the doctors speak reasonable English and, if they don't, the hospital will provide an interpreter.

It is quite a good idea to regularly attend prenatal classes, to prepare your pelvic area for the actual birth, for reasons that will become clear further down the page. I've managed to find one centre offering this service. If I find anymore, I'll add them.

Polercise is a general fitness centre situated within Club Flamingo in San Eugenio, Las Americas. It offers pregnancy exercise classes every Tuesday at 6pm. You can phone them on 626 505355.

The Birth

If you've seen scenes in fictional drama featuring a woman giving birth, you'll know it tends to feature a lot of agonised screaming and excruciating pain. This is generally depicted as happening in the UK or USA, where pain relief is available.

Well, say goodbye to even that. In Spain (and Tenerife), this idea of giving birthing mothers pain relief seems completely absent. They expect you to grit your teeth and get on with it.

Yes, unfortunately, the actual birth, when experienced in Tenerife, won't be what you expect at all.

"Luxuries", such as gas and air, appear to be things that they've never heard of. If you want an epidural and are in the south, you'll be sent to the Candelaria hospital. The pain killer pethidrine is, theoretically, available, but rarely given.

Medical staff seem to treat childbirth a bit like a conveyor belt, with their wanting to see a result as soon as possible. The birth will be induced at the drop of a hat and they're quite partial to C sections, too.

The prospective fathers are rarely allowed in at the birth and may not even be informed that the birth has happened till some considerable time later.

The newly-born child is immediately removed and put under hot lights for some time and it may be several hours before it is placed into your arms. And you never know, they may decide, at this point, to bring the father in.

It's all very brusque and business-like. It may not sound very appealing, but, at least, you'll know what to expect.

You may be allowed to stay in the hospital for a short time after the birth, but you are then discharged and that's that.

After The Birth

Paperwork for a birth is a lot more straightforward than the equivalent for marriages and deaths; you merely need to register the birth at an official registry office.

Ideally, this should be done within eight days of the birth, but you have an absolute limit of 30 days to do this, if you can supply a satisfactory reason for the delay. If you miss the deadline, be prepared for a lengthy and expensive adventure in the Spanish courts before a birth certificate is issued.

Registration with the appropriate authority in Tenerife is essential if the child is to be eligible for state schooling and other benefits of social security.

You will be given a yellow form by the hospital where the birth took place and you should take this in person to the local Registry Office in the area.

In the case of married parents, either the mother or the father may do this (plus the option of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins or brothers/sisters-in-law). Your NIE card will be required.

In the case of non-married parents, both of you must be present, with your respective NIE cards. You must also provide proof of the mother's marital status (if divorced, for example, a copy of the divorce certificate).

To find the address of your local Registry Office, try this website. It's in Spanish and comes up as Santa Cruz, by default, but there's a clickable list down the left of the box of different municipalities, so you can access details of your local one.

Information entered onto the certificate includes:

• Name of the new baby
• Date, time, location of birth
• Gender of baby
• Name of parents (if married); mother (if not)
• File number of birth (official stuff)
• Time of registration

For British Citizens

UK nationals living in Tenerife may also like to register the birth of their baby in their home country. This is possible through the British Consulate-General in Madrid.

Full details of how to do this, plus the documentation required, can be found here.

There - at long last, everything done! So, finally, congratulations!

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