Any Mum's in Lille, Northern France?

[MuminLilleFrance]

Hi there,

I'm 26 and live in central Lille and due to give birth mid-dec...not long now! Its my first child and everything seems to be going well. My French is so so, it can be frustrating at times as I go to my anti-natal class and don't understand everything, a little scared that if my partner is working away when I go into Labour...but hopefully that wont happen!
I wondered if there were any mums in the area that could give me some advice, mums that have given birth in France, I know that there is a mother and baby group in Lille that I am going to contact next year, but don't know many people at the moment.
Any advice, thoughts...for example places that are good to shop for baby clothes, equipment (cheap) any paperwork I need to know about?

Many Thanks

hi there,

I can't help much with the Lille specific questions, but we live (mostly) in the Pas de Calais, so not too far away. I'm heading back to the UK to have my second child in January, but know quite a few British folk who have chosen to have their baby in France and been really happy about it.

There's a shop called Kiabi that is pretty good for baby clothes. I know there is one in Boulogne and it is bound to have a website showing where the branches are in Nord.

But my main tip on that front is that it is easier to try and get bog-standard baby stuff in the UK. The posh stuff in France is absolutely lovely, but it can be hard to get the basics. The exception to that is the supermarkets (the Auchan/Carrefour biggies in particular) which have cheap, basic stuff, but in noticeably different sizes to the UK. May just be that our son is a bit of a bunter but he never seems to fit things that we buy in France.