State-subsidised childbirth

Women in Sweden usually give birth in hospital. The birth and the following hospital stay are almost fully tax-funded.

The particular conditions for childbirth vary a lot between hospitals. Some Swedish hospitals have adjoining ‘hotels’ – a less hospital-looking part of the hospital – where new mothers and their partners may stay for two or three days after a birth, when required, so that nurses can monitor the mothers and provide postnatal care for newborns.

Read more about healthcare in Sweden.

Parental leave – an opportunity to bond with your child

In Sweden, parents are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave when a child is born or adopted. This number is high by international standards and is perhaps Sweden’s most famous argument when it comes to being a child-friendly system.

Offering paid parental leave is one way to enable parents to combine work with family life. Having a child doesn’t mean the end of a career, merely a pause. And it’s not just about equality – on a national level it’s also about economy, about maximising the potential of the workforce and, by extension, increasing the country’s growth.