Your English guide to birth in Germany
Your appointments, and what each one is
The routine maternity care offered in Germany, in English.
This is the schedule German guidelines set out: check-ups every four weeks until week 32, then every two, shared between your gynaecologist (Frauenarzt) and your midwife (Hebamme) however you choose to split them. Each one is written into your Mutterpass.
Every appointment and every test here is offered, not required. You can ask what something is for, take time to think, and say yes or no to any of it. What your insurance covers can differ between insurers and practices, so if something is described as an individual health service (IGeL), ask the price and whether yours covers it before you agree.
| German | In English | When | What it involves, and why it is offered | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feststellung der Schwangerschaft | Confirming the pregnancy | Weeks 5 to 8 | A urine test or an early scan, your medical history, blood pressure and weight. You are given your Mutterpass. Confirms the pregnancy, works out your due date, and opens the notes you will carry all year. | |
| Vorsorgeuntersuchung | Routine check-up | Every 4 weeks to week 32, then every 2 | Blood pressure, weight, a urine sample, the height of your bump, your baby’s heartbeat, and how you are feeling. Follows how you and your baby are doing over time, so that anything changing is noticed early. | |
| Blutuntersuchungen | Blood tests | At the first visit, some repeated later | Blood group and rhesus factor, an antibody screen, iron levels, immunity to rubella, and tests for syphilis and (offered) HIV. Nearly all of it is simple to treat or plan around once it is known. | |
| Chlamydien-Test | Chlamydia test | At the first visit | A urine sample. An infection often has no symptoms, can affect the pregnancy, and is straightforward to treat. | |
| Erstes Screening (1. Ultraschall) | First ultrasound | Weeks 9 to 12 | Confirms the heartbeat, whether there is one baby or more, and the dating of your pregnancy. One of the three scans covered as part of routine care. | |
| Ersttrimester-Screening, NIPT | First-trimester screening | Weeks 11 to 14 | A nuchal translucency measurement with a blood test, or a blood test that looks for chromosomal conditions. Optional and often paid privately. Whether you want this information at all is entirely your decision. | |
| Zweites Screening (2. Ultraschall) | Second ultrasound | Weeks 19 to 22 | Growth and development. You choose the basic scan or the extended scan, which looks at your baby's organs more closely, or neither. A more detailed organ scan (Feindiagnostik) is covered when there is a medical reason. Looks at how your baby is growing, and at the placenta and fluid around them. | |
| Oraler Glukosetoleranztest (oGTT) | Glucose tolerance test | Weeks 24 to 28 | A sweet drink, then a blood sample an hour later. If that is raised, a longer version follows. Gestational diabetes usually causes no symptoms, and is well managed once it is known about. | |
| Anti-D-Prophylaxe | Anti-D injection | Around week 28 | One injection, offered if your blood group is rhesus negative. Protects a future pregnancy rather than this one. | |
| Drittes Screening (3. Ultraschall) | Third ultrasound | Weeks 29 to 32 | Growth, your baby’s position, the fluid around them, and the placenta. The last of the three covered scans, as you start to plan for the birth. | |
| Hepatitis-B-Test | Hepatitis B test | After week 32 | A blood test. If it is positive, your baby can be protected at birth. | |
| Anmeldung zur Geburt | Registering to give birth | Weeks 30 to 34 | A booking appointment at the hospital or birth house: your history, a scan, and your questions. Puts you on their books and is the moment to ask everything you want to ask. | |
| CTG (Kardiotokographie) | Monitoring | From around week 30, when there is a reason | Two bands on your bump record your baby’s heartbeat and any tightenings, usually for twenty to thirty minutes. Not routine in a straightforward pregnancy. Ask why it is being suggested, and you can say no. | |
| B-Streptokokken-Abstrich | Group B strep swab | Weeks 35 to 37 | A swab. Not part of the covered schedule in Germany, so it is usually offered privately. If it is positive, antibiotics in labour are offered. | |
| Übertragung: Kontrollen | Past your due date | From 40 weeks | Check-ups every two to three days, usually a CTG and a look at the fluid around your baby. Watches that all is still well while you wait, so the decision about induction stays yours to make. | |
| Nachuntersuchung | Your postnatal check | 6 to 8 weeks after the birth | How you have healed, your bleeding, contraception if you want it, and how you are in yourself. The appointment that is about you, not the baby. It is worth keeping. |
If something doesn’t feel right
You never need a good enough reason to ask. Nobody minds being called about something that turns out to be nothing, and it is what all of these numbers are for.
- Your midwife (Hebamme) is the first call for most things: aches and pains, bleeding you are unsure about, feeding, sleep, your mood, or a question you thought of after your appointment. If you have one already, she usually answers fastest.
- Your gynaecologist (Frauenarzt) in surgery hours, for anything that needs an examination, a scan, a prescription, or a sick note.
- The labour ward (Kreißsaal) of the hospital where you are registered is reachable day and night, and you do not need an appointment or a referral. Call them for bleeding, a gush or trickle of fluid, contractions, if your baby is moving less or differently than usual, a bad headache with visual changes, or if you are simply frightened. For a birth house or a home birth, call your midwife instead.
- 116 117 reaches the out-of-hours doctor service when your practice is closed. 112 is the emergency number, for heavy bleeding, severe pain, collapse, or anything that genuinely alarms you.
Reduced movement is never something to sit on and see about in the morning. Call the labour ward the same day, at whatever hour it is.
Your Mutterpass and the people caring for you are the authority on your own care; this sheet is orientation for the appointments, not a substitute for them. Guidelines are updated from time to time, so if this does not match what your practice tells you, go with your practice. To find a midwife anywhere in Germany, search Ammely at ammely.de.