UK citizen/resident, baby born unexpectedly early on a trip abroad?

My wife might need to go to Paris at 38-39 weeks pregnant for a day or two, for a job interview. Just thinking through the contingencies if the baby comes earlier than expected (since it's not completely out of the ordinary for babies to be born at that stage).

The medical expenses would be covered by a combination of EHIC and travel insurance, not too worried about that. However, there is the question of getting the baby the necessary documents to come back to the UK. The baby would need a local birth certificate followed by a UK travel document of some sort. (We are both dual US-UK citizens.) This would seem like an ideal case for an Emergency Travel Document but the FCO guidance says you can't normally get one if you haven't had a UK passport before. And the published timescales to get a first child passport in France are 6 weeks, which would be an awful lot of time away from home and added expense.

Does anyone have any relevant knowledge to share? Has anyone actually managed to get an ETD in a similar case before? Worst case would be to not go on the trip but hoping to be able to identify a "better" worst case option than that. Thanks in advance!

Only advice I have for your wife is not to travel so close to her due date.. too many things could go wrong.

Good luck with you new baby..

I would also not travel (currently pregnant myself and I've "grounded" myself to home and I'm only 29 weeks).  Can they do the interview via Skype or WebEx?

I'd check with your travel insurance and see if they will cover her to travel.  I suspect they'll want a fit to travel letter from her GP or midwife.  I would NOT count on EHIC.

My first came at 38+6 and I would have put a lot of money on being two weeks over.  You just can't predict babies!

Unfortunately I think being stuck without a travel document for some time would be very likely.  Of course it could be okay and she may go there and back with no issues.  But I swell like a balloon in pregnancy and I can't think of anything worse than travelling for hours.   

Thanks both. DW has already been to two rounds of interviews which were via videoconference; this is a final round and the company understandably wants to meet her face to face. We've also already checked with travel insurance and they will cover it. I totally agree that it's not ideal to travel at 38 weeks of pregnancy, and appreciate your points of view, but also, whether or not to make this trip wasn't really what I was asking. I was really after any advice folks had on the specific questions about getting travel documents for a baby born during a temporary stay outside the UK, if it came to that. This board is called "Visas and Citizenship" after all ...

Thanks both. DW has already been to two rounds of interviews which were via videoconference; this is a final round and the company understandably wants to meet her face to face. We've also already checked with travel insurance and they will cover it. I totally agree that it's not ideal to travel at 38 weeks of pregnancy, and appreciate your points of view, but also, whether or not to make this trip wasn't really what I was asking. I was really after any advice folks had on the specific questions about getting travel documents for a baby born during a temporary stay outside the UK, if it came to that. This board is called "Visas and Citizenship" after all ...

Very true, sorry for going down into the weeds.   

I would anticipate it taking a full six weeks to get baby back, if baby was born there.

Uh oh, here I go into the weeds again.  First baby's are typically (not always) long labours.  Mine was 18.5 hours from first contraction until delivery.  If she also has a long labour, theoretically she could jump back on the train and get back before delivering.  I can't think of anything worse, but it could be an option...

Okay, back on the road!  Let us know how it goes!  Chances are none of this will have mattered as it's likely baby will stay put.

If she also has a long labour, theoretically she could jump back on the train and get back before delivering.  I can't think of anything worse, but it could be an option...

Ladies and gentlemen, KFDancer has officially lost her mind.

What would you name the kid that was in the middle of the Eurotunnel?  Thomas Sous la Manche? 

Ladies and gentlemen, KFDancer has officially lost her mind.

I have!  We will blame my own pregnancy brain/creativity.   

I wonder if your brain is actually changing to lead you to make decisions that you wouldn't ordinarily make?  I don't mean simply "baby hormones make you stupid " as that's silly.  I mean that something primitive in your brain tells you to get home (or somewhere safe) no matter what when contractions start .  The same way as our brains make us eat sweets to maximise calories because that made sense for cavemen.

I wonder if your brain is actually changing to lead you to make decisions that you wouldn't ordinarily make?  I don't mean simply "baby hormones make you stupid " as that's silly.  I mean that something primitive in your brain tells you to get home (or somewhere safe) no matter what when contractions start .  The same way as our brains make us eat sweets to maximise calories because that made sense for cavemen.

Nesting is definitely very real.  Hasn't hit me this time yet.  But I'm sure it will.

I did suggest to my husband that we go up to Newcastle to see his brother before baby comes and he was the one who said no, we're not travelling.   

EHIC is not insurance. It allows you to get insurance at the same rate as normal citizens of the country and cannot be used at private facilities, only state facilities. So if the French pay for treatment, so will you. Also there are strict rules about maternity, and if it looks as if you came specifically to give birth, they can require you to pay.

In order to travel back to the UK with the baby, you would have to register the birth at the British embassy and wait AGES for the passport. They aren't automatic French citizens just because they are born there. But before you can register the baby you need to get the birth certificate. I don't know how long it takes in France, but it was 8 weeks after the birth before we could get an appointment to register the baby to get the birth certificate. Then it's getting a appointment at the embassy, then waiting for documents. Your wife could be stuck there for months.

Would it be possible to bring the interview forward, or possibly haing them come to her given the situation??



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