Your pregnancy, through to birth

Frequently asked questions

Your questions, our answers

When should I book my first pregnancy appointment?

As soon as the test is positive. The first consultation dates the pregnancy by ultrasound, opens your care and allows the pregnancy to be registered. The first-trimester scan falls within a narrow window: the CNGOF sheet states that nuchal translucency has to be measured between 11 and 13 weeks of amenorrhea (amenorrhoea) to be interpretable. Appointments are booked on Doctolib with Dr Gatri (reason “Première consultation de grossesse” — first pregnancy consultation), or by telephone through the secretariat.

Who looks after my pregnancy at the practice?

Dr Chaima Gatri, a gynecologist (gynaecologist) and obstetrician, holds the monthly consultations from registration through to delivery, and she is the doctor who delivers your baby at the Clinique de la Muette. Dr Amel Mahdhi-Basli, who specializes in fetal (foetal) medicine, performs the three trimester scans at the practice, twin pregnancies included. Both doctors consult in French and in English, at 42 avenue Mozart.

The three trimester scans: where and when?

At the practice, on the GE Voluson Expert 22, by Dr Mahdhi-Basli: the images are shown on a large screen throughout the examination and the report is handed to you in print. The CNGOF sheet places the three screening scans at 11-13, 22-24 and 32-34 weeks of amenorrhea, one per trimester, and states that you may eat before coming. These scans have their own page: Pregnancy ultrasound.

Where will I give birth, and how do I register with the maternity unit?

Dr Gatri delivers at the Clinique de la Muette, 46-48 rue Nicolo, Paris 16th, a five-minute walk from the practice. The anesthesia (anaesthesia) consultation takes place there ahead of the birth, and your choices regarding the epidural are prepared there. The practice's quotation file, signed electronically, is required before any booking of the operating or delivery room at the clinic. Pre-admission to the clinic is then a mandatory step: it is done online, on the clinic's patient portal (ramsayservices.fr — the file given by the practice carries the QR code), or in person at the pre-admission desk during the anesthesia consultation; you present your identity document, your carte Vitale, your complementary insurance card and the practice's signed quotation. The clinic does not offer third-party payment for complementary insurance: on discharge it gives you the receipted invoices for your insurer. The practice's quotation covers Dr Gatri's fees; clinic charges and the fees of the anesthetist (anaesthetist) are arranged directly with the clinic.

When is a cesarean section planned?

When conditions, in you or in your baby, suit a vaginal birth poorly — that is what the CNGOF sheet states. The operation is most often performed under a regional anesthetic (anaesthetic), through a horizontal incision of the abdomen and of the uterus. The sheet gives discharge between the fourth and the seventh day, moderate bleeding for up to three weeks, and a year's wait before starting another pregnancy. The leaflet, the consent form and the quotation reach you before the date.

What is an induction, and when is it possible?

An induction brings on contractions to start labor (labour). For a planned birth without a medical indication, the CNGOF sheet sets two conditions: a pregnancy of at least 39 weeks of amenorrhea, about eight and a half months, and a favorable (favourable) cervix, softened and already slightly open. With those conditions met, the sheet states that labor runs its course as it would spontaneously. You are admitted to the maternity unit on the morning itself, and the method chosen is explained beforehand.

Is my pregnancy covered at 100%?

From the first day of the sixth month of pregnancy, the Assurance maladie covers medical costs at 100% of its tariff, excluding excess fees. Before that, the compulsory antenatal examinations are already covered at 100% of its tariff, excluding excess fees; other consultations, scans and tests are partly covered by the Assurance maladie. The practice applies direct billing to the French national health insurance (tiers payant): with an up-to-date carte Vitale, you do not pay that part upfront. What remains payable by you includes the excess fee (dépassement d'honoraires), which may be reimbursed by your complementary insurer (mutuelle), depending on your policy. Fees for delivery and for a cesarean (caesarean) section are set out in a detailed quotation. The full picture is in “Fees and reimbursement”, further down.

What happens after the birth?

You are seen again at the practice for a postnatal consultation: healing, return to activity, contraception and a pelvic floor assessment. Pelvic floor rehabilitation can be carried out at the practice on the StarFormer® chair, clothed and without a probe.