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Children's health in Brussels

In Brussels, healthcare happens in French and paediatricians are quick to see, on one condition: joining a mutualité as soon as you register with the commune. Here is how the Belgian system works, where to go in an emergency with a child and what changes for vaccines, based on official sources.

Verified on 30 October 2026

How the Belgian system works

Belgian health insurance is compulsory but not automatic: you choose and join a mutualité, which then reimburses part of your care according to the rates set by the INAMI.

Good to know

  • Health insurance is compulsory in Belgium, and joining a mutualité is the only way to get it. The choice is free (Christian, liberal, free, neutral, socialist); the CAAMI, a public fund, charges no contribution but offers no complementary cover. Source
  • Your electronic ID or residence card proves your cover: take it to hospital and to every medical appointment. At the pharmacy, the refund on prescribed medicines is deducted at the counter. Source
  • Part of the fee remains yours to pay, the 'ticket modérateur'. With third-party payment you pay only that share and the mutualité pays the doctor the rest; since 2022 any provider may apply it, without being obliged to. Since 1 September 2025, doctors and dentists bill electronically: no more paper certificates to send. Source
  • A 'conventionné' doctor charges the official rates; a non-conventionné doctor sets their own fees. Check before the first appointment in the INAMI search engine. Source
  • The mutualité does not cover all hospital costs: additional hospital insurance, offered by mutualités or insurers, is strongly advised for a family. Source

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Finding a GP, a paediatrician and the ONE

No compulsory registration with a doctor: you freely choose your GP and can see a paediatrician directly. For little ones, the ONE provides free preventive check-ups.

Good to know

  • You freely choose your GP and may see several doctors; most consulates keep a list of practitioners speaking their language. Without a doctor in Brussels, 1710 (Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 19:00) refers you to a GP. Source
  • Ask your GP to open a global medical file (DMG) for each family member: it centralises treatments, vaccines and allergies, and reduces your share at each consultation. Source
  • Appointments are mostly booked online, as with Doctolib in France, through Doctena, Doctoranytime or Rosa, for GPs as for specialists. Source
  • The ONE (birth and childhood office) vaccinates free of charge in its neighbourhood clinics; at your paediatrician or GP, programme vaccines remain free but the consultation is charged. Source
  • To bring to the first appointment: the residence card (or the commune's certificate meanwhile), the mutualité sticker or certificate and each child's French health record book, so the doctor can copy the vaccine history. Afterwards, your vaccinations appear on the MaSanté portal. Source

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Emergencies and children's hospitals

Brussels has a university hospital entirely dedicated to children, the HUDERF in Laeken, and several paediatric emergency departments. For a serious but not life-threatening problem, call the on-call doctors first.

Good to know

  • 112 calls an ambulance or the fire brigade, free across Europe; 101 reaches the police in an emergency; 1733 gets you an on-call doctor. Source
  • Poisoning, a product swallowed, medicine taken by mistake: the Poison Centre answers on 070 245 245 and publishes product-by-product guidance on its website. Source
  • The emergency department of the Children's Hospital (HUDERF) sees children up to 16, 24/7. Two companions at most, and siblings are not allowed in the department; bring the child's ID. Source
  • For a serious but non-urgent problem, the HUDERF can give an appointment within 48 hours with its paediatricians; the Brussels on-call doctors answer on 1733 seven days a week. Source

Addresses

  • Hôpital universitaire des enfants Reine Fabiola (HUDERF)

    Emergency

    Avenue Jean-Joseph Crocq 7, 1020 Laeken

    The reference hospital for children. Paediatric emergencies 24/7 in the Professeur Vis building, with parking reserved for emergency patients.

    Website Source

  • CHU Saint-Pierre, urgences pédiatriques

    Emergency

    Rue Haute 290, 1000 Bruxelles

    Downtown university hospital, with paediatric emergencies and a paediatrics department of more than twenty paediatricians. Separate line for children's emergencies.

    Website Source

  • Hôpital Delta (CHIREC), urgences pédiatriques

    Emergency

    Boulevard du Triomphe 201, 1160 Auderghem

    Large hospital in the south-east, handy for families in Auderghem, Etterbeek, Ixelles and the Woluwes.

    Website Source

  • Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc

    Hospital

    Avenue Hippocrate 10, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert

    UCLouvain university hospital, with an emergency department and a paediatrics department, in the east of the city.

    Website Source

  • UZ Brussel

    Hospital

    Avenue du Laerbeek 101, 1090 Jette

    VUB university hospital, Dutch-speaking but used to international patients, emergency department open around the clock with its own entrance.

    Website Source

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French-speaking doctors and official lists

In Brussels almost every doctor practises in French: the issue is not language but availability. The consulate general publishes a list of doctors in Belgium (published in November 2025, updated on 7 April 2026), short and provided for information only, without engaging the administration; the choice of practitioner is free. We list its Brussels practitioners. It includes no paediatrician, dentist or psychologist: for those, use the official directories below (Ordre des médecins, Psychologists' Commission, INAMI) or the booking platforms.

Good to know

  • The consulate's list includes a GP who advises the consulate, a gynaecologist-obstetrician, a dermatologist, an ophthalmologist and a physiotherapist, plus the list of hospitals in Brussels, Antwerp and Liège. Source
  • Every doctor practising in Belgium must be registered with the Ordre des médecins, whose website lets you search for a practitioner by name, postcode and specialty, paediatrics included. Source
  • For a psychologist, check they appear on the Psychologists' Commission list, which guarantees the title and ethics; for a dentist, Bruxelles Accueil points to dentiste.be, the Société de médecine dentaire website, whose directory leads to the INAMI search engine. Source

Addresses

  • Dr Salim Kaiss

    General practitioner

    Avenue Louise, Ixelles

    General practitioner, medical adviser to the consulate general, City Clinic Louise.

    Languages spoken : FR

    Source

  • Dr Mathilde Coste

    Avenue Louise et hôpital Iris Sud, Ixelles

    Gynaecologist-obstetrician, Louise Medical Center and Iris Sud hospitals (Ixelles site): pregnancy follow-up and delivery.

    Languages spoken : FR

    Source

  • Dr Claire Debusscher

    Avenue Winston Churchill, Uccle

    Dermatologist, Brussels Skin Center practice.

    Languages spoken : FR

    Website Source

  • Dr Jean Assaf

    Rue Saint-Hubert, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre

    Ophthalmologist, eye and refractive surgery, Brussels Eye Center.

    Languages spoken : FR

    Website Source

  • Yann-Marie Delamarre

    Rue Haute, Marolles (1000 Bruxelles)

    Physiotherapist (sport, manual therapy, jaw joint), Fais Pas Ton Marolle allied health centre.

    Languages spoken : FR

    Website Source

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Pregnancy and maternity units

Pregnancy is followed by a gynaecologist or a midwife, in private practice or at the hospital where you will give birth. The ONE also offers prenatal clinics, and the mutualité covers most of the costs.

Good to know

  • The ONE runs prenatal clinics to support pregnancy medically and socially; family planning centres complete the offer in each commune. Source
  • An employee's maternity leave lasts 15 weeks (17 for twins): one compulsory week before the due date, nine compulsory weeks after birth, the rest being transferable to after the delivery. Source
  • During leave, the mutualité pays the maternity benefit: join one as soon as you arrive, without waiting for the pregnancy. Source
  • After the birth, register the child with the commune, apply for the birth allowance (ideally in advance) with your family allowance fund, then have the certificate transcribed into French civil records by the consulate. Source

Addresses

  • CHU Saint-Pierre, maternité

    Maternity

    Centre-ville, 1000 Bruxelles

    Downtown university maternity unit, backed by the paediatrics department and its children's emergencies.

    Website Source

  • Maternité Delta « Edith Cavell » (CHIREC)

    Maternity

    Boulevard du Triomphe 201, 1160 Auderghem

    Prenatal care, birth rooms, postpartum, neonatal unit and paediatric follow-up in one place.

    Website Source

  • Maternité de Braine-l'Alleud - Waterloo (CHIREC)

    Maternity

    Braine-l'Alleud

    The 'Les Mères-Veillent' maternity unit, closest to families living in Waterloo and south of Brussels.

    Website Source

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Pharmacies and medicines

Belgian pharmacies are much like French ones, but the brands change. At night and at weekends, an on-duty rota runs between pharmacies.

Good to know

  • An on-duty pharmacy is open on weekdays from 19:00 to 9:00 the next morning, on Saturdays from 13:00, and all day on Sundays and public holidays. At night you are often served at a hatch; the list is posted on every pharmacy and on pharmacie.be. Source
  • A prescription from a doctor in another EU country is valid in Belgium, but the medicine may have another name or be unavailable: ask for a prescription by generic name (the name of the molecule). Source
  • Show your electronic residence card at the counter: the refunded share of prescribed medicines is deducted immediately. Source
  • Paracetamol, ibuprofen, rehydration solutions: the same molecules exist under Belgian brands. Ask the pharmacist by molecule name and give the child's weight.

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Vaccines: the differences with France

The Belgian schedule is close to the French one, but the rule is reversed: a single compulsory vaccine, the others recommended, and required by day care.

Good to know

  • In Belgium, only the polio vaccine is compulsory; about ten others are recommended according to the Superior Health Council schedule, from 8 weeks. In France, several vaccines are compulsory for infants. Source
  • For day care overseen by the ONE, you must prove vaccination against diphtheria, whooping cough, Haemophilus influenzae b, measles, rubella and mumps, on top of polio. Source
  • The Wallonia-Brussels Federation schedule plans injections at 8, 12 and 16 weeks, at 12 and 15 months, then boosters around 5-6, 7-8, 13-14 and 15-16. A new 2026-2027 schedule takes effect on 1 November 2026. Source
  • Recommended vaccines are free if given at the scheduled ages and ordered through the programme; at the ONE the injection is free, at the paediatrician only the consultation is charged. Source
  • With a paediatrician outside the programme, they may prescribe the vaccine for you to buy at the pharmacy and bring back; at the ONE, vaccines are kept in stock. Source

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These landmarks do not replace the advice of a health professional. In an emergency, call the local emergency number shown above.

A place has closed, something has changed? Tell us: the mums of Brussels will thank you.

Sources for this page

The public pages these landmarks come from. The official website always prevails.

  1. 1 Consulat général de France à Bruxelles, liste de notoriété des médecins
  2. 2 INAMI, s'affilier à une mutualité et tiers payant
  3. 3 Sécurité sociale, vaccinations remboursées
  4. 4 HUDERF, urgences pédiatriques
  5. 5 112.be, numéros d'urgence
  6. 6 vaccination-info.be, calendrier de vaccination
  7. 7 SPF Emploi, congé de maternité
  8. 8 Commissariat Bruxelles Europe, santé et petite enfance

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