Giving birth in Malta

11POSTS

8 years ago

Hi everyone,

three months ago me and my boyfriend moved to Malta and both of us started working.
During my first month of work I found out that I am pregnant and started to read about the maternity laws here. What I found out was that the mother has the right of 14 weeks paid by the employer and if she doesn't return after these 14 weeks she should return the money to the employer.
We are only the two of us and no one of our mothers could come to take care about the baby during the next 2-3 years so I will stop working.
My question is - when I stop working which will be 4 weeks before the due date I will be unemployed - do I have the right to give birth here in Malta when I am unemployed (forgot to mention that we are both EU citizens)?
Can I pay the taxes for the social security even when I am unemployed so that I can give birth in non private hospital?
If we get married by the time when I will be unemployed and my husband is working - do I have the right to give birth in non private hospital?

I will be very happy if someone could hell me with the answers.

Thank you in advance!

See also

Having a baby in Malta - Guide
Schools in Malta - 5 Replies
Giving birth at home with a midwife - 8 Replies
pregnancy in malta - 4 Replies
Giving birth in Malta/Gozo - 7 Replies
Childcare in Malta - 18 Replies
Giving birth at mater dei - 26 Replies

volcane ViP

1098POSTS

8 years ago

hmm, not sure how that will work with access to free medical. Of course you can give birth here, but how you get free medical without a job I am not sure personally.

fwiw private birth should cost around 4k euro.

F0xgl0ve Malta Expert

1976POSTS

8 years ago

Assuming Bulgaria does not have a reciprocal health agreement with Malta then you may have a bit of a problem.
As far as I know you can not pay in to the system if you are not employed and as it is a pre existing condition I guess you would not be covered if you took out private health cover.

Other possibilities are, become self employed in some way and pay in to the system or hope that if you get married before the event you will be covered because your husband is employed and paying in to the social security system but you may have had to be married for a minimum amount of time.

Ray

Fionn Banned

165POSTS

8 years ago

@angelinak

Please see the following regarding Maternity Benefit - NOT maternity leave benefit that you have referred to:

1) https://www.gov.mt/en/Services-And-Info … efits.aspx

angelinak Member

11POSTS

8 years ago

Thank you for the comments

At least now I know that I will be covered by my husband if we marry until the birth

Spiridonov Serial expat

240POSTS

8 years ago

I am working here, my wife is not (and we are non-EU).
Just got our 3rd baby month ago in Mater Dei, everything was free.

angelinak Member

11POSTS

8 years ago

Hello Mr. Spiridonov,

thank you for the information.
How is your wife health insured?

LOVENA83 Active member

37POSTS

8 years ago

Hi
Just wanna know my hubby and i are non eu and if hav a baby in malta what is the benefit and if hospital is free? and also if the child gets nationality
thanks

volcane ViP

1098POSTS

8 years ago

child does not become a maltese national.

The rest is based on the usual medical benefits system discussed here at length many times. If you have work permits and pay NI here you have access to hospital as far as I know (though I am a EU national so might be different for you!)

Pokerplayer00 Member

3POSTS

8 years ago

#10

Hi there,

I am a poker player who moved to Malta last week with my wife. We found out 2 weeks ago that she is 6 weeks pregnant. I won't be working officially anywhere since I play online and only need to pay taxes om remmittamce basis. Most likely my wife won't get a job coz of pregnancy. We are going to get private health insurace this week in order to apply for the ID card. However i am not sure if giving birth will be free for us at all? We are eu citizens. Any idea or suggestion? Or who could we contact in this case? I could get a job for my wife at my friend company for a few month, not sue if that would help (she wouldn't work and i would need to pay the expenses for my friend, but maybe it is still cheaper than paying for the whole healthcare costs)

Thanks if you dis take the time to read my post and can give me some heads up.

Thanks

Pokerplayer00 Member

3POSTS

8 years ago

#11

Anyone any idea/suggestion?

GozoMo Malta Expert

2212POSTS

8 years ago

#12

Why not ask your health insurance provider?

Pokerplayer00 Member

3POSTS

8 years ago

#13

I asked him, but giving birth cannot be covered by them and the guy do not know how the normal system work for foreigners

JV321 Active member

99POSTS

8 years ago

#14

Perhaps call Meterdei and ask them. Tell them you are a EU citizen now living in Malta, and what documents would be required if your wife gave birth here.

Fionn Banned

165POSTS

8 years ago

#15

LOVENA83 wrote:
Hi
Just wanna know my hubby and i are non eu and if hav a baby in malta what is the benefit and if hospital is free? and also if the child gets nationality
thanks

@LOVENA83

Please see:

1) Maternity Benefit:

https://socialsecurity.gov.mt/en/ChildB … nefit.aspx

2) Maternity Leave Benefit (MLB):

https://socialsecurity.gov.mt/en/ChildB … efit-.aspx

3) Children's Allowance

https://socialsecurity.gov.mt/en/ChildB … wance.aspx

4) In-Work Benefit:

https://socialsecurity.gov.mt/en/Short- … nefit.aspx

kiki88888 New member

5POSTS

8 years ago

#16

m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=133544880679099&ref=content_filter

kiki88888 New member

5POSTS

8 years ago

#17

m.facebook.com/groups/133544880679099?tsid=0.8436334052222281&source=result hi everyone here is group i made for new moms in malta to share useful information ...

jennyinmalta New member

4POSTS

7 years ago

#18

Hi, I will be moving to Malta in January and I'll be about 29 weeks pregnant, so I'd like to get on the system for seeing midwives / giving birth pretty quickly. How do I go about it? Can I self refer to the hospital or do I need a GP first? I'm British so currently an EU citizen, and my husband will be working any paying Maltese NI but only from January. Thanks in advance!

GozoMo Malta Expert

2212POSTS

7 years ago

#19

jennyinmalta wrote:
Hi, I will be moving to Malta in January and I'll be about 29 weeks pregnant, so I'd like to get on the system for seeing midwives / giving birth pretty quickly. How do I go about it? Can I self refer to the hospital or do I need a GP first? I'm British so currently an EU citizen, and my husband will be working any paying Maltese NI but only from January. Thanks in advance!

It is probably advisable to go to a gp first, you will be charged ours in Gozo is €10 we do not have to make an appointment, the town clinics are free but you normally don’t see the same doctor when you visit more then once, good luck.

Dree1234 New member

8POSTS

7 years ago

#20

Hi,

I moved here a year ago at 22weeks pregnant, it can be quite confusing at first but once set up its great. So you first need to get a form from the GP, most pharmacies have a GP so pop in there and ask for a registration form for the hospital. You will need to choose which hospital to go with, private or public because the GP notes this on the form. Private is St.James and public is the Mater Dei. There are pros and cons to both. If you are an EU citizen and want to go public it can cost up to 4K or you can use you EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) and it will be free of charge in the Mater Dei. Do note that you will need to go to the billing section in the Mater Dei before each appointment and show the EHIC, it’s a bit of a pain but worth it.
When choosing a hospital there are a few things to consider and this is my advice on what the pros and cons are. There is a lot of waiting around for your weekly appointments in the Mater Dei and you aren’t guaranteed to see the same gynae on each visit, however when it comes to delivery they were amazing in my case. The good part about the Mater Dei is if there is any major complication while at a private hospital they send you straight to the Mater Dei because they have the most up to date equipment and best doctors on call since it’s the public hospital.
With St.James it’s very calm and the time of your appointment you are in with the doctor or gynae. However the cost stacks up quickly.
Now you do have a 3rd option pay for your gynae appointments and scans with Saint James/Vedutta clinic and register for labour at the Mater Dei.

If you are looking for part public and private I recommend using the Vedutta Clinic as your private visits and have delivery at the Mater Dei. The Vedutta clinic works very closely with the Mater Dei.

Hope that helps, I know it’s a lot of information but I hope it helps make the decision easier.
Best of luck with the move and little baby.

GozoMo Malta Expert

2212POSTS

7 years ago

#21

Once resident here you cannot use your EHIC card as it’s for tourists only.

Dree1234 New member

8POSTS

7 years ago

#22

That’s incorrect, I had an ID card and registered it with the hospital as they required it to set up my file. If you read the terms and conditions of the EHIC then this can be used for maternity purposes. Also to apply for an ID card you need much more paperwork to prove you are not just a tourist applying for an IDbut proof you will be a resident here, e.g rental lease, proof of work, bank account details etc.

GozoMo Malta Expert

2212POSTS

7 years ago

#23

Dree1234 wrote:
That’s incorrect, I had an ID card and registered it with the hospital as they required it to set up my file. If you read the terms and conditions of the EHIC then this can be used for maternity purposes. Also to apply for an ID card you need much more paperwork to prove you are not just a tourist applying for an IDbut proof you will be a resident here, e.g rental lease, proof of work, bank account details etc.

I know what you need when you apply for your residence card as I have lived here for six years as regards the EHIC card I did not know about maternity purposes.

volcane ViP

1098POSTS

7 years ago

#24

FWIW You only need proof of work, rental lease, bank details etc if you want self sufficiency or of you are not from the EU. For EU people who work it’s veey easy.

jennyinmalta New member

4POSTS

7 years ago

#25

Thanks all, my husband will be working so I think that entitles me to public healthcare? I also have an EHIC as I am British, my due date is Brexit day but I don't think that's going to cause a problem!!

Blue1October Member

1POSTS

6 years ago

#26

jennyinmalta wrote:
Hi, I will be moving to Malta in January and I'll be about 29 weeks pregnant, so I'd like to get on the system for seeing midwives / giving birth pretty quickly. How do I go about it? Can I self refer to the hospital or do I need a GP first? I'm British so currently an EU citizen, and my husband will be working any paying Maltese NI but only from January. Thanks in advance!

Jenny,
How did you get on in the end? We've been planning on a move to Gozo for several years now... we're supposed to be moving in February... only we've just found out that my partner is 8 weeks pregnant.

I'm UK, she's EU.. so hopefully one way or another we'll be covered.

Thanks

jennyinmalta New member

4POSTS

6 years ago

#27

It all went really well. I went to Veduta clinic which is a private clinic that specialises in ante natal and had regular private check ups there. The Dr there referred me to Mater Dei to get registered with them for the birth. This involved some paperwork and was very slow but not too complicated. I didn't have much time between arriving in Malta and my due date and the baby arrived at 37 weeks which was before my registration appointment but it was no problem, I turned up at the hospital in labour and they looked after me brilliantly. They just asked for my my EHIC and passport.

I would recommend seeing a Dr and getting your referral to hospital as soon as you move over. It might all be much quicker in Gozo with it being so much smaller. You can go to any dr for a referral, either private in a pharmacy or clinic or in the local health centre.

GozoMo Malta Expert

2212POSTS

6 years ago

#28

There are plenty of good GP’ s in Gozo, ours charges €10 to see him you can go to the polyclinic which is free but there are always queues there.

kayceekings Member

1POSTS

6 years ago

#29

Hello sir,
please wen you live and work in malta as non EU and you give birth, will the child or children have same residence like the parent has? kindly explain to me what the process is like since you have the idea.
thank you so much