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Hello Bhavik Vyas,

Welcome on board ! Congrats to your wife and you ^^

To gather as much information possible specific to healthcare and pregnancy, please have a look at the Having a baby in Spain article of the Expat Guide. It will provide you some insights.

Barcelona is quite vast. In which region/locality will you be situated ? Do you already have an idea ?

I don't think you wil have trouble finding indian groceries, let us wait for members to provide some feedback :

Regards

Bhavna

Congratulations on your forthcoming baby.

You haven't said when you will be arriving, soon can mean anything.

But I am not sure your wife will be able to fly, even being 6 months pregnant. Airlines have strict rules when it comes especially when they are long-haul flights (12+ hour flights)

@Bhavik Vyas

Congrats on baby and new job!

As an engineer, it's clear that you have a dynamic optimization problem with multiple sub-optimal solutions. But it's easy for me to be Mr. Logic as I'm not in a panic about my new baby. :-)

Firstly, the way you write suggests you have not chosen one of the sub-optimal options. And it's kinda late to still be thinking about it! After 24 weeks, as @SimCityAT points out, different airlines have different cut-off dates for flying while pregnant, and some require a medical certificate. And, separately, it is a very long flight, so even if you are allowed to fly, you have to weigh the potential risks of doing so. Sorry, but it's decision time!

In my simplistic view, you have three choices. And, as I say, they are sub-optimal in the sense that they each have significant trade-offs that you might find unappealing. And the choice kinda depends on your job, and whether they're happy to wait for you... or you don't care if they wait or not, and you're confident in being able to find another. And it depends on whether you want to be around for the birth and/or first days/weeks of new baby time.

Option 1: is that you come first on your own and sort out residence legalities and a place to live, and focus on your fancy new job. While your wife stays with her family where it's easier to manage the birth and and have support in the few months after. Then she can move over later without any last-minute panic.

Option 2: is that you delay your move by 6-9 months, then come over together.

Option 3: is to come over together in the last weeks of pregnancy, and try not to have a baby on a plane, arrange a new home, start a new job, do immigration legalities, and find a hospital / midwife. All without any wider family around to support you and help with the baby. It is the maximum complication and stress option, but it does mean you get both new job and being with new baby. While complicated, it's not impossible, and I'm sure some folks have done it. I'd be tempted to discuss with my new boss to see how sympathetic/supportive he is (always nice to know what kind of folks you're working for), or if he's totally relaxed and tells you to start in September instead.

On the other hand, I know there are lots of vegetables in Spain, so that won't be an issue. :-)

@gwynj Thank you very much for your answer!

I am almost convinced to stay back and travel after pregnancy, or if the company is willing to pay then fly immediately, travel back to India around the due date, get the delivery done and fly back to Spain after a couple of months. The only problem here is that, in this case, I will have to file for a Visa for my baby, and I am not sure how much time it takes and if there is a guarantee that the visa won't be rejected. That is the reason I was checking the feasibility of other options.

@Bhavna Thank you so much Bhavna, the article you shared about pregnancy in Spain is indeed detailed and hence helpful.