Chile Forum

jenihum wrote:I do have one question... for those of you who have given birth in Chile, how do you go about getting a (US) passport/birth certificate for your baby and how long does that usually take? (I have grandparents wanting to see the baby soon).

We took our baby girl born in Chile back to visit the US at 2 months of age. You can get your child a passport and social security number at the US embassy in Santiago, at the same time you will also need to get a consular report of a US Citizen born abroad. You will need your child's birth certificate of course; if the parents are both US citizens born in the US it is relatively uncomplicated, but you need to read about the process on the embassy website. Both parents also need to attend with their US passports, and there is an interview involved. If you have anything that can prove you lived in the US for a significant amount of time they'll want to see it. Getting the passport takes about as long as getting a passport usually does, depending on whether you pay the expedite fee or not.

embassy website: chile.usembassy.gov, look under citizen services

You might also consider getting your child a Chilean passport as well at the local Registro Civil, that way he/she won't have to pay the reciprocation fee coming back into Chile or worry about visas when leaving/reentering. The hardest part of that for us was getting a decent picture of the baby at the Registro for the passport (they take the picture there, at least in La Serena they are not really prepared to take infant pics). The process takes about as long as getting a US passport, assuming no government strikes, and is a lot less paperwork and costs less, although I forget the exact amount.

Good luck and fun traveling!

I just wanted to add info to this thread about our experience with giving birth in Chile.
My wife gave birth to our son about 2 months ago at Clinica Santa Maria. Highly recommendable - competent doctor & midwife, friendly nurses etc. We felt very well treated - even though labor started Sunday night, both the doctor and midwife that we had dealt with beforehand showed up straight away and stayed throughout the night until delivery.
Birth was "normal", which means with epidural.
We stayed 2 more nights in a private room, where I could stay as well. price was just under 2,000,000 CLP (of which in our case the Isapre covered 90%).
If anybody would like more detailed information or recommendations, please feel free to PM me.

Congratulations on the safe arrival of your son!

Hi!

I am moving to the Las Condes neighborhood in August, and will 10 weeks pregnant, so will need pre-natal care as well AND am high risk (due to a hx of blood clots and being 36). Its my first child, so I am nervous about moving and the care there and not knowing the language. I have seen a recommendation for Dr Hernan Munoz Salazar and wondered if anyone else had a great dr they loved in the area?

He's my doctor!! He delivered two of my babies and I absolutely love him.

Dr. Nein was my doctor. I would recommend him to anyone wanting an awesome doctor. He speaks English fine. He studied at Johns Hopkins in the states and is one of the leading experts in detecting any problems with babies through ultrasound; so if you don't use him as your OBGNY then you should definitely consider getting your ultrasounds done through him at least. He works in Clinica Davilla but I believe he mentioned to me once that he also works at a medical place in Las Condes. Even if you need to go to Davilla it is right of the metro and not far at all. Great clinic!!!! I will definitely be returning there for my next child!