Childbirth & Child-Rearing Guide
for Foreign Residents in Sendai

3-1 Registration of Birth

When your baby is born, you will need to register their birth at your ward office/general city branch office, embassy/consulate, and Immigration Bureau.

　(1) First, you will need to get a Birth Certificate from the hospital.

　(2) Within 14 days of the birth, you must submit a Birth Notification to your ward office or the general city branch office, and receive two copies of the Birth Acknowledgment Certificate.

　(3) You must submit one of those copies to the immigration bureau within 30 days and obtain residency certification.

　(4) The other copy must be certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then submitted to your embassy or consulate.

　An amendment to immigration law has been in effect as of July 2012. Under the amendment, after you submit your birth notification to your ward office/general city branch office, a certificate of residence as a “person who may continue to stay transitionally in Japan by birth” will be created according to your area of residence. You must apply for a residency permit at the Immigration Bureau within 30 days of birth.

　If one of the parents is Japanese, you will have to do the procedures (1) and (4).

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3-2 Newborn Baby/Premature Baby Guidance Visit

When your baby is born, you will need to send in the Birth Notice Form (postcard) filed in your Maternal and Child Health Handbook Supplement. When your baby will be almost one month old, a public health nurse, newborn baby home guidance counselor, or home nutrition counselor will visit your home to counsel and advise you on health and nursing, as needed. They will also take weight measurements and check the growth of your baby.

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3-3 Nursing Baby/Toddlers Health Examination

The City of Sendai provides free nursing baby health examinations in order to monitor babys' growth and development, discover illnesses in their early stages, and give pediatric nursing guidance. Be sure to make use of these examinations for the sake of your baby’s health.

Dates and times of examinations can be rescheduled.

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3-4 Vaccination

Vaccination is necessary to protect the health of your baby. The vaccine interval is determined by considering the best timing for acquiring immunity. You must strictly adhere to the vaccine interval schedule to achieve the strongest immunity for your baby. Vaccination is free when received within the time schedule, but fees are incurred afterward.

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3-5 Child Allowance

The system provides the parents of the child with money (allowance) in order to promote the healthy growth of the child.
For details the allowance amount and application procedure, please contact the Insurance Benefits Division of your ward office or the Public Health Welfare Division of your general branch office.

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3-6 Child Medical Treatment Expense Aid

When your child undergoes health care services provided by health insurance, you will receive aid for the paying of medical expenses.

You must present both your child's certificate of medical care and health insurance card to the reception counter at hospitals and pharmacies.

In order to be eligible, your child must be a resident of Sendai and have health insurance. Aid for regular doctor visits lasts until the end of the 3rd grade of elementary school, and aid for hospitalization lasts until the end of third grade of middle school. Eligibility for the system has an upper income limit, and aid cannot be received by those above a certain income level.

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