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8 things you need to arrange after the birth of a baby:a handy checklist

Rusk with mice. A pink cloud. And tiny socks. The moments of happiness at the arrival of a child can (often) not be counted on two hands. Yet that new beginning is not only fun because you have to arrange a lot after the birth of your baby. There are a number of things that you need to arrange after the birth of your baby. To be honest, when our first one was born at 33 weeks of pregnancy, I did not yet have a list of all that you have to arrange after birth. He announced himself very early, so first things first. But a handy checklist about what to arrange after the birth of your baby, that in itself can't hurt. You also have a checklist of everything you need to arrange for that?

Because of my article about guardianship, I thought it would be useful to list the to-dos for arranging after the birth for you. So with this 😉 .

Table of contents

What to arrange after the baby is born

From the moment you become a mom or dad, there really is a new beginning. You may not think of it that way now, but I assure you… once your baby is born you will understand what I mean. And from this moment on it is important to have a number of things well arranged. It is no longer just about you. There is a good chance that you will be so overflowing with happiness that you do not immediately think of the administrative hassle below. So we have prepared a checklist for you:what to arrange after the birth of your baby. Maybe not the nicest side of your newfound parenthood. But hey, nobody said it was easy. And with a bit of luck you can also leave a few things to your partner during your maternity week. While you let your maternity tears run wild.

Not everyone is into arranging and organizing, but the arrival of a completely new person secretly requires a lot of arranging. This checklist about what you should not forget to arrange after the birth of your baby will in any case help you on your way.

1. Declaring your child and applying for child benefit

In the Netherlands, everything revolves around recording. Only when something is on paper, it really seems that way sometimes. declaring your child to the municipality is therefore an important thing to arrange after birth. Not only because it has a beautiful symbolic meaning. But also because all the red tape can only really start then.

Note:The declaration must be made within three days after the birth of your child. Have you already decided whether your baby will bear your last name or that of your partner?

Your child will receive a citizen service number. Your municipality will then also pass on a message to the Social Insurance Bank (SVB). They will send you a message back after a week or so. And then you can apply for child benefit with your Digi-D .

This is only necessary with your first child. After this you are already in 'the system' and the next child is automatically added. They also have a handy app at the SVB where you can log in with your Digi-D.

2. Childcare and allowance

Childcare is not actually an answer to the question 'what to arrange after birth', but we will mention it anyway 😉 . If you have a job, we assume that you have already arranged childcare. You often have to be there in time, so already during your pregnancy. Is your child already registered at a daycare center? Or have you chosen a nanny? Then you can make agreements after the birth about when the childcare will really start. You should now also know when your leave ends. And although you probably don't want to think about that for a while, it's not wrong to start arranging now.

Also check the website of the Tax Authorities to see whether you are entitled to childcare allowance. You can easily make your own calculation. And since childcare is not cheap, a supplement is certainly more than welcome.

3. Adding to existing insurance policies or taking out new ones

You partly decide how the insurance is going, but you also have compulsory insurance that you have to think about. It is wise to include the following insurance policies on your list of 'arranging after the birth of the baby'.

The health insurance

As soon as your child has a citizen service number, you can contact your health insurance † From 4 months after birth, your child must be insured with at least the basic insurance. If that is not the case, there is a chance that any medical costs are not covered and of course you should not think about that. In our case it was important anyway due to extra hospital admissions and all kinds of checks on top of the standard.

Children can be added to the policy with one of the parents until they are 18. So they do not yet need their own insurance, but they must be insured through you. Also indicate to the doctor that there has been a family expansion. We forgot to make arrangements after the birth, but our attentive GP called herself because of course she had heard that we were in the hospital.

While figuring all this out, I ran into HEMA Health Insurance (yes, they really sell everything there). I found it striking that they have a number of nice advantages to their insurance. You will receive a 10% discount on almost the entire HEMA collection as soon as you can show your health insurance card. After you've arranged all this, you can go shopping for your baby with a discount 😉 . In addition, I also saw that they have included a maternity package in their insurance to the value of € 50.00 if you get a family expansion. Nice, isn't it?

Funeral insurance

There is another insurance policy that you may now find important. Not a must, but in any case good to review everything that needs to be arranged after the birth of your baby. Research shows that there are still many young parents who do not think about this. You may have never even thought about it before having children:a funeral insurance † Not a happy subject, of course. But suppose something happens to yourself, then you don't want to burden your family with the costs of a funeral. And what if something turns out not to go well at birth, or shortly after?

If your baby is born at 33 weeks of pregnancy, I can tell you that all kinds of things are going through your mind. Joy but also a lot of fear. Especially if you get a call from the hospital after two weeks that your fighter is on morphine because of an intestinal perforation and that surgery is inevitable. brrr. It may have been a long time ago, but it's still fresh in my mind.

By the way, did you know that your baby – if you have funeral insurance yourself – is in most cases automatically insured from 20 weeks of pregnancy until one month after birth? You don't have to arrange that after birth.

You can insure your baby for free immediately after birth on your own policy or take out your own insurance at a very low rate. It may sound a bit 'strange', but this way you can give your child insurance when he or she leaves the house for which he or she has to pay a very low premium. Talk about looking ahead and preparing!

Liability insurance

Maybe not immediately necessary, but once your little one can crawl, a lot can go wrong. At home, but also at someone else's. Gripping hands that are hitting around sometimes want to destroy the necessary in their journey of discovery. So don't forget to add your little one to your liability insurance.

Continuous travel insurance

Do you have continuous travel insurance and is another trip planned? Then remember that you also have your baby added to this immediately. Not credited also means not co-insured in the event of a cancellation. smart to arrange this after birth.

4. Acknowledging a child and applying for joint parental authority

It is becoming more and more common for parents  not to be married. Not a disaster at all, of course, but did you know that in such a case the mother automatically has sole parental authority? You don't have to go for the ring on your finger after all. First, make sure that the father recognizes the child with the municipality † Preferably before birth (yes, that's possible!).

Even a man who is not the biological father can acknowledge a child. When arranging after the birth of a baby, also ask for joint parental authority at. In this way it is legally established that you both have custody of your child. It's nice to have the assurance that this has been arranged properly, should something happen to one of you. And in any case very handy:this way you are both authorized to arrange things for your child. For example, when applying for a new passport. You apply for joint parental authority to the Subdistrict Court.

Not married, but do you want to be sure that your child will receive what it is entitled to, should something unexpected happen? Then include him or her in your will and consciously arrange your estate after birth. Also nice for your partner, by the way, if those kinds of financial matters are properly arranged.

5. Guardianship

Are you married, or has joint parental authority been established? Then the next item on the checklist 'of what you need to arrange after the baby is born. Namely:guardianship. The guardianship determines who will take care of your child if both parents are unable to do so for whatever reason.

I recently wrote an extensive article about arranging guardianship and the possibilities, as a result of a survey among our readers.

6. Send birth announcements

A welcome change from all that red tape:the birth announcement cards † Although that also becomes more of an obligation when you have just given birth. At least that's what I thought. My head was actually not at all to arrange this after birth. With a child in the incubator and breastfeeding not starting, also writing birth announcements in a hospital bed.

Fortunately, in most cases you can do this in advance. During your pregnancy, make sure that you have already received a proof of the card. After the birth of your baby, all you have to do is put the dots on the I. Was it a difficult delivery? Then don't be too hard on yourself. The people who really need to hear the news usually don't do so via the birth announcement. So it's best to wait a little longer before writing envelopes and planning a baby shower † What is nice is to arrange in advance to bring the birth decoration into your home after birth. As soon as you plan your maternity party, you'll have everything you need to dress it up nicely! And it makes you happy too.

7. An identity document

Are you going on holiday abroad soon? Then it is important to provide your child with a own identity card to request. In the past, children were added to their parents' passports. This is still happening nationally. A child who needs medical care therefore does not need its own proof of identity. This is done via the identity card of the parents. However, if you go abroad together, the addition to your passport will lapse and your child will need its own proof of identity.

8. Maternity leave

You will have already arranged maternity leave, at least… if the birth of your baby has gone somewhat according to plan. In my case I think I was just in time. You will hear this 7 weeks before the due date of delivery to have. You do this with your employer. In the event of a benefit or if you are self-employed, you can request leave from the UWV.

In any case, inform your employer when arranging after the birth of your baby. This way they also know where they stand with your total maternity leave and a date can be determined when you go back to work.

pstt:Paternity leave will be extended considerably in the coming years, so you know that. In this blog you can read all about it:paternity leave.

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