Friday, October 26, 2007

The Swiss do love their bureaucracy

In addition to finally trying to get the baby's room together - and one reason why I haven't felt a great sense of urgency about this is because we already know the baby will be sleeping with us for the first several months, we already have a changing table, a bouncy chair, a Stubenwagon (that's not ours, it's just an example of what a Stubenwagon is), and there are clothes in the house - I've also pulled together all the documents I'll need to bring to the hospital and put them in a bright yellow folder labeled "Dox to bring to Spital" (I guess Small Boy is not the only one who mixes languages) placed prominently on my desk.

Interested in what documentation you need to provide when you give birth in Switzerland? Read on! (I wrote about many of these documents in this post.)

All patients must bring:
  • your blood group card (you get this from your OB after your first pre-natal appointment)

  • completed naming card for the child (we've got a girl's name picked out but boys' names are killing us. We used the best two names on Small Boy!)

In addition to the above, married patients must provide:

  • your Familienbüchlein - this literally translates as "little family book" and the less literal translation would be the family record book. It serves as your identification when you interact with all sorts of civil authorities and must be kept updated.*
  • the Niederlassungsbewilligung for both partners - I still don't have a proper translation for this. It confirms that you live where you say you live and must be kept updated. (When we moved next door, R needed to get a new Niederlassungsbewilligung - as an Ausländerin I don't have one of these, I have an Ausländerausweis [visa] instead).

Single patients, on the other had, must provide:

  • the Niederlassungsbewilligung of the mother

  • recognition of the father, when known (I believe this is in compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child)

Foreign patients (that's me!) must bring (in addition to the blood group and naming cards):

  • Ausländerausweis (i.e. your visa/permission to reside in Switzerland)

  • both passports (I think they assume all foreigners are married to other foreigners, because I'm pretty sure they weren't interested in R's passport when Small Boy was born)

  • a copy of your marriage certificate (again, I think they're assuming I'm married to another foreigner because the Familienbüchlein should cover this)**
I'm working on the cover all your bases system and bringing everything we have that's on that list - meaning the Familienbüchlein and R's Niederlassungbewilligung and his passport and our marriage certificate (we were married in the US) and my passport and my Ausländerausweis. That really should cover it.

On the other hand, if anything happens to that folder R and I will, in the eyes of the state, have ceased to exist. Small Boy's passports, US social security card, Consular Report of Birth, and Swiss national ID card are someplace else, so I guess he would continue to exist. On the other hand, he's attached to R's Niederlassungbewilligung, so maybe he wouldn't. Or maybe in the US but not in Switzerland?

* For example, births must be registered with the appropriate civil authorities within three days (the hospital does this, which is why they need all this information) and deaths within two days.

** This list of documents required to give birth in a Swiss hospital is one of the reasons I always thought "Natascha's" mother was undocumented. Let me rephrase that - I'm sure if you showed up with no papers the hospital would still treat you and care for the newborn but I suspect they would be obligated to report the patients' undocumented status. But I'm not sure about that. Something to research in all of my free time.

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7 Comments:

At 18:28 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hadn't read your previous post about papers for delivery, but now I have. I find it chilling as I contemplate the fact that, given the particular circumstances of the births of both my children, it is likely I could have died had I delivered unattended. Babyfensters ara a highly important effort to protect babies, and I greatly hope they proliferate. However, they do not protect the mothers. Many women can bear safely outside the hospital setting, but noone should have to bear alone, and medical care should be available if the childbirth develops complications. This plan leaves undocumented mothers with no protection.

Amanda

 
At 03:33 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Like in Thailand.. just add endless photocopies... thats definately the down side of being an expat!!

 
At 02:57 , Blogger Trish said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 02:03 , Blogger Trish said...

Crikey, I was flat out remembering to take the camera.

(sorry about the deleted thing above, that was me, having trouble with Blogger)

 
At 11:10 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

How wonderfully European! The Niederlassungbewilligung sounds like our Polish "Meldunek", but you don't need that here to give birth. Wow! Switzerland might just be more bureaucratic than Poland. Never though that would be possible!

 
At 15:18 , Blogger swissmiss said...

Amanda - I agree anonymous birth as allowed in France would be a much better option. I'm 98% behind allowing anonymous birth, but there are concerns about the child's right to know his/her background. Then again, if mother and child die in childbirth it's a pretty abstract right, isn't it? I'm just grateful there are at least Babyfensters but I do think Switzerland should readdress the anonymous birth option.

Lillian - Oh, the US embassy takes care of the endless photo-copy requirement once I apply for US citizenship for the child!

Trish - We remembered all the documents but NOT the camera for Small Boy. Not that I would have wanted anybody to use that thing - the hospital took a picture for us and I looked every bit as bad as I felt!

Kinuk - The Swiss are definitely all about the paper work. Since Small Boy was born here, I have no idea what's actually involved in the US in terms of paper work. For all I know it's just as bad.

 
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