Pregnant in France: Early Prenatal Interview : Entretien Prénatal Précoce

This appointment is recommended after the 4th month of pregnancy. You can schedule it with your midwife, doctor, or local PMI. If you are in a couple, your partner is allowed to come along (and recommended) for the appointment. This appointment is completely covered by assurance maladie, meaning you do not have to pay for the appointment and typically lasts about 45 minutes or so. There no physical examinations or medical consultations performed during this appointment. 

The purpose of this appointment is to assess your needs as the pregnant mother as well as the needs of the couple during the pregnancy and after. You can discuss everything from your birth plans, your expectations, questions, possible difficulties,  and your needs in terms of support during and after. You’ll discuss the support systems that are in place to help throughout the entire length of the process. All aspects are covered in this appointment: psychological, emotional, and social. 

Our midwife asked questions about my job, how it affected me, how I felt it impacted my life as well as the life of our couple, what we had in terms of a support system in France (knowing that my entire family is in the United States), did we have any people that we could call on when we needed help. We also discussed the affect of my previous miscarriage and the possible impact on this pregnancy. She also asked my husband what he did for a job and how he felt that, if at all, would impact our family project. 

Here are a few questions our midwife asked us:

• How are you coping with your pregnancy, both physically and psychologically? How are you coping with the changes in your body?
• How much weight have you gained and what are your eating habits? Are you sleeping well? 
• How is your professional life? Do you feel that it has any affect on your pregnancy?
• How are you as a couple? Role as a mother? Father? How do you see your baby fitting into it? 
• How do you see the birth? How do you feel about the epidural and the pain? Is there anything you are hesitant about? 
• How do you plan to prepare for the arrival of your child? What do you expect from this birth preparation?
• Have you thought about childcare after your maternity leave, and when you go back to work? Have you already signed up? 
• How do you envision feeding your baby (breast, bottle, both)?
• Have you started looking at a maternity? 

Our midwife also recommended that we look for a midwife closer to our home (as she is in the center of Paris) so that we can take our birth preparation classes as well as the midwife can come to our home for home visits once the baby is born. 

Every appointment is going to be different based on your personal experience and where you are at in your pregnancy journey. Each midwife and doctor have a different way about going about things and how they handle their appointments. Do not be afraid to ask for clarification or further explanation on something. If ever you feel like you are not getting the attention/care you need, you can absolutely change midwife/doctor. Find someone who is there to listen and to advocate for you.