🗓️ The major milestones of expectant and new fatherhood

What to keep handy

• Your own calendar, loaded with all the medical appointments (don't just rely on your partner's phone).
• A dedicated folder (physical or digital) with essential paperwork: pregnancy certificates, birth records, employer notices.
• A go-to contacts list: hospital/maternity unit, midwife, family doctor, health insurance.

Step by step

1. 1. During pregnancy

   Choose a maternity provider, ask about classes, plan transport and review leave eligibility and notice requirements early. A packed bag by week 36 is a planning suggestion, not a legal deadline.

2. 2. After birth

   Register through SmartStart/DIA. DIA advises registration within two months; generally both parents jointly register, subject to exceptions. Registration is free and a certificate costs extra. Check DIA’s current naming restrictions, including offensive names and names resembling official titles/ranks; avoid inventing a character limit. Birth in New Zealand does not by itself guarantee citizenship.

3. 3. Follow-up

   Book newborn and postpartum care before discharge using the local schedule; do not assume the first infant visit is at one month or all first vaccinations are at two months.

4. 4. Leave

   Eligible partners can take one or two weeks of unpaid partner’s leave, depending on service. This is distinct from eligible primary carers’ up to 26 weeks of parental leave payments. A partner becoming primary carer may receive transferred payments if eligible. Check Employment NZ and Inland Revenue rather than assuming all fathers receive 26 paid weeks.

Same topic

• 🎒 Packing the nappy bag for an outing
• 🚗 Installing a car seat correctly
• 🌍 Out and about with baby: handling the outside world
• 🎁 The baby registry