Skip to main content

Pregnant a few months after moving — how did you handle care?

Lucía Herrera ⭐ Helpful member
6 Aug 2026, 17:59

Some news that isn't really paperwork: I'm pregnant! We found out a few months after moving to Valencia, and Mateo and I are very happy and also very lost.

I'm registered with social security as a freelancer, so I think I have access to the public system, and my first appointment with the midwife at the health centre went well. But everything is in Spanish medical vocabulary, which is not the same as my Colombian Spanish, and I don't really understand the timeline of scans and appointments here, or how people choose where to give birth.

For anyone who had a baby in a new country, or was pregnant during a move: how did you handle the care? Did you stay public, go private, or mix both? And what do you wish someone had told you?

7 replies

Anna Kowalski 🏆 Community expert
6 Aug 2026, 18:39

Congratulations, Lucía! Our youngest was born here in Ireland, so I've been exactly where you are. The public care was good, but I felt lost for the first two appointments because nobody explained the order of things. When I asked the midwife to draw me a simple timeline, she did it on the back of a leaflet, and I kept that paper on the fridge for months. Ask for yours.

Fatima Al-Rashid ⭐ Helpful member
7 Aug 2026, 18:41

Our youngest was born in Canada, and a few things made a real difference for me:

  • ask for a list of the medical words you'll hear most often, and learn them before the appointments. Even in a language you speak, medical vocabulary is its own dialect
  • visit the hospital before the birth. The tour made the day itself much less frightening
  • find other parents from home here. The online group of Pakistani mums in our city answered questions at 2am that no website could
  • if your family plans to visit after the birth, sort out their travel early

And accept help. The first weeks are harder far from family than anyone admits, so let the neighbours bring food.

Lucía Herrera ⭐ Helpful member
8 Aug 2026, 08:38

Gracias, both of you. The timeline on the back of a leaflet is such a simple idea, I'll ask at the next appointment. And Fatima, "medical vocabulary is its own dialect" is so true.

Carla Romano ⭐ Helpful member
10 Aug 2026, 17:57

Lovely news! Both of ours were born in Italy, but a friend here said the hospital tour was the single thing that calmed her down most.

Joy Villanueva ⭐ Helpful member
12 Aug 2026, 18:47

So happy for you, Lucía! As a nursing student I'll just say: write your questions down before every appointment, and don't leave until they're answered. The staff really do prefer that. Wishing you both a calm pregnancy.

Elena Popescu 🏆 Community expert
15 Aug 2026, 15:02

Wonderful news. Being pregnant far from family is a lot. Make sure you have one person here you can call at any hour.

Sofia Mendes ⭐ Helpful member
19 Aug 2026, 20:37

Parabéns, Lucía! So happy for you and Mateo.