Having a child

When having a child in Norway, you should be aware of your parental rights and duties. Below, you will find information and services relevant to pregnancy and having a child, including advice about parental responsibility, financial assistance, maternity and paternity leave and how to register the name of a baby.

Pregnancy check up

When you are pregnant, as part of routine prenatal care in Norway, you will be given appointments for regular antenatal checks and tests, called ”svangerskapskontroll”. You decide whether you want to see a midwife, doctor or go to the public health clinic. 

Parental responsibility

Children born as of 1 January 2020 bacically have parents with joint parental responsibility. This applies both children with married parents, children with cohabiting parents and children with parents who do not live together.

Married parents have joint parental responsibility for the children they have together. As from 1 January 2006, cohabiting parents automatically have joint parental responsibility for children they have together born after this date.

For children born out of cohabitation before 2020, the mother has sole parental responsibility.

See separate rules about parental responsibility, custody and access in cross-border cases.


Birth certificate, identification number and naming a baby

When a child is born, the hospital reports the birth to the Norwegian Tax Administration. The Norwegian Tax Administration assigns the child a Norwegian identification number and sends a request to the mother to choose a name for the child. After the child’s name has been registered, you’ll receive the confirmation in your Altinn inbox. In most cases, you no longer need a birth certificate with a stamp and signature.

Children born abroad

If you are Norwegian parents who have had children abroad, you must report to a tax office together with the child when you return to Norway. This is required for the child to be registered as being resident in Norway.

A child is a Norwegian citizen by birth if one of the parents is a Norwegian citizen at the time of the birth.

From 1 January 2020, it will be allowed to have one or more citizenships in addition to a Norwegian citizenship.

Parental benefit 

Parental benefit is financial assistance intended to ensure parents an income in connection with the birth or adoption of a child. You are entitled to parental benefit if you have been employed and have received a pensionable income for at least six of the ten months prior to the start of the benefit period. 

If you are employed, the parental benefit basis is normally calculated on the basis of your income at the start of the leave period. You can use Nav’s benefit calculator to calculate how much you will receive in parental benefit payments.

The total benefit period for parental benefit in connection with a birth is 49 weeks at 100 percent coverage, and 59 weeks at 80 percent coverage. Read more about the maternal quota and the paternal quota on Nav.no.

Apply for parental benefit or lump-sum payment digitally.

Lump-sum payment for a birth or adoption

If you are expecting a baby and you have had no income teh last year, you can receive a lump-sum payment. Use this wizard to find out if you are have the right to parental benefit or a lump-sum payment.

Kindergarten care

The entitlement to a place in a kindergarten applies to children who turn one year old no later than the end of November in the year that they apply for a place. Children born after November will be entitled to a place in the following year. 

You can find information and application form on the municipal authority’s website (municipalityname.kommune.no).

Child benefit and cash benefit for parents of infants

Most people do not need to apply for child benefit. If the child was born in Norway, the mother is automatically granted entitlement to child benefit from NAV roughly two months after the child is born. You can find information about child benefit and cash-for-care benefit on Nav’s web site.

You can read about adoption on the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs' websites and about involuntary childlessness and assisted reproduction on Helsenorge.no.

Compensation of patient travels

Pasientreiser HF
Patient travel is transportation to and from publicly approved medical treatment. Primarily, you should arrange your own travel and apply for compensation of travel expenses afterwards. You may apply for compensation of travel expenses electronically or via the paper-based travel expenses form.

Medical Birth Registry

Norwegian Institute of Public Health
The Medical Birth Registry collects data about pregnancies and births for research and analysis. Read more on helsenorge.no.

Pregnancy and check-ups during pregnancy

Norwegian Directorate of Health
All pregnant women in Norway are entitled to maternity care from a midwife at a Maternity and Child Health Care Centre (in Norwegian: “helsestasjon") or from their General Practitioner. The consultations are free of charge.

Payment dates - NAV

Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service (NAV)
Here you’ll find some general information about payments from NAV. The summary for each benefit has information about payment dates, holiday pay and months with reduced or no tax withholding.

Name search

Statistics Norway
Here you can search for first names and surnames and find out how many in Norway who has the name and how it has been used over time.

Approve or reject the child's name

Norwegian Tax Administration
If you are a father or co-mother and share custody with the mother, you must approve the name choice mother has reported. You do this online. 

Report the name of your child

Norwegian Tax Administration
When the Tax Administration has sent you a request to select a name for your baby, you can report it online. This only applies to first-time name choice.

Helsenorge.no

Norsk helsenett SF
Helsenorge.no is a guide for citizens wanting to take care of their health, as well as learn about public health care in Norway. The web site includes links to online services and information about the treatment of illnesses and patients' rights.

Summary Care Record - Kjernejournal

Norsk helsenett SF
A Summary care record ("Kjernejournal") provides healthcare professionals with fast access to certain important health information about you, regardless of where you are receiving treatment.

Parental benefit, lump-sum grant and pregnancy benefit

Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service (NAV)
Parental benefit is intended to ensure parents an income in connection with the birth or adoption of a child. If you are expecting a child and have not had an income in the past year, you can receive a lump-sum instead of the parental benefit.

Parental benefit or lump-sum grant?

Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service (NAV)
Use the guide to decide whether you should apply for parental benefit or a lump-sum grant. You can only apply for one of them. 

Claim for cash benefit for parents of young children

Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service (NAV)
You can receive cash-for-care benefits for children between the ages of one and two years of age or for adopted children who have not started school. If your child attends a government subsidised day care centre full-time, you will not receive cash-for-care benefits. If your child attends a government subsidised day-care centre part-time, you can receive partial support.

Child benefit

Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service (NAV)
You may be entitled to child benefit if you have a child under the age of 18 in your care, who is living with you in Norway. Single parents are also entitled to extended child benefit and infant supplement. You do not usually need to apply for child benefit. If the child is born in Norway, the mother will automatically receive child benefit around 2 months after the child is born.

Confirmation of parental responsibility

Norwegian Tax Administration
A confirmation of parental responsibility shows the parental responsibility that's registered for a child. You may need a confirmation for application processes, for example a bank or insurance company.

Life situations