Birth in the NL

[Bellabaz]

Hello,

My partner and I may be moving to the NL at the end of this year. I have lived in Maastricht before. THis time we will being living in the area of Delft/Den Haag. I went to the website expatica but I am looking for some additional info as the posts I found were old. What is it like giving birth in the NL. We currently have a one year old and we will want another one soon but with the impending move we are waiting to get pregnant so that I am not full term and trying to move overseas. (we are currently in the US). I have heard from my LLL leader that her friend lived there and that it was great because pregnancy was not treated like an illness. Then if you search online you read a lot of horror stories from expat women. I just wanted to get a idea of what to expect. I understand that home birth is fairly normal. I am okay with that. My first birth was in a hospital and I did end up with an epidural for a brief time. However I really want my next birth to be a much more realxed less medical experience no matter where we are. Any info would be greatly appreciated. TIA

[sarahmck]

I have yet to give birth in the Netherlands, but it's definitely true that they don't treat pregnancy like an illness. I think most of the horror stories that one hears from expats are from the sort of expats who want a medicalized birth and find that the Dutch system isn't encouraging of that. In some hospitals (primarily away from big cities) it can be difficult to get pain relief and such, and they send you home very very quickly (like just a few hours) after a routine vaginal birth. Home birth is very common (about 30%) and very normal. The whole health insurance system is set up nicely to accommodate that. You get a big box of birth supplies mailed to your home from your insurance company and you get about a week of the services of an almost full-time postpartum nurse at your home. You certainly don't get that after a home birth in the US! I had a home birth in the US and I was definitely left quite on my own afterwards. My midwife came by daily to check my healing and look in briefly on my baby, but there certainly wasn't someone there doing light cooking and cleaning or giving me a massage every day (the woman that I've arranged for for after this birth will be doing just that!).

In short, if you're interested in a natural birth, especially at home, I think it's a fantastic place to be.

[clogmama]

I had a homebirth in the Netherlands and it was an absolutely wonderful experience. In the September / October 2007 edition of Mothering Magazine there is a fantastic article titled Homebirth in Holland:
http://www.mothering.com/newsletter/pressrelease-sep07.html It's possible to order a back issue to access the actual article.
The details of my homebirth and prenatal care are very similar to this Mothering article--I even had the same group of midwives as the author.

[clogmama]

Woops, I double posted..

[Bellabaz]

thanks for the replies. It turns out that was pretty much the situation. A lot of them also wanted an elective C-section with no medical reason. That website it self is pretty toxic when it comes to living in the nl. Anyway, I am looking forward to it and also to having a great birth experience the next time around.

[DariusMom]

Don't read expatica! :)

Actually, I met a woman who has become a great friend and whose homebirth I assisted with, via Expatica. I wrote in about my very positive homebirth experience (she was pregnant at the time) and we started emailing and the rest is history. So . .. ok . . . maybe do read expatica, but take it all with a grain of salt. There are a lot of negative people on there who are very unhappy with their lives in Holland, with Dutch culture, and with the differences in approaches to pregnancy and childbirth.

I think the main difference for me was having to initiate a lot of things. For instance, a lot of tests that are standard in other countries are not done on pregnant women, unless there is some reason to believe they are necessary. I wasn't so comfortable with that hands off approach and simply asked for them. Insurance didn't cover them, but they were cheap, anyway. When I was pregnant, there was only one echo done, and that was in the 3rd month of pregnancy. I think that has changed now. But I just asked for and paid for one in the 20th week.

All this to say that you will be fine here, but you may have to take more control of your pregnancy and labor and delivery. You may have to do more researching and be assertive about what you want and don't want.

As a PP said, though, if you do want pain relief at the hospital, it can be difficult. Not impossible, but difficult, depending on the locations. But since you want a less medicalized birth, you should be fine.

[SuzymomofLaura]

ITA with DariusMom: you have to be assertive and do your research, which is a good thing because it helps you to get an empowering birth experience. Ask thousands of questions at your caregiver, on MDC (there's tons of experience and knowledge amongst our mamas!!) and by all means write a birth plan. You'll be fine, just make yourself heard if you do or don't want something!:thumb

[hayesklein]

I'm an American who moved to Rotterdam last year at 7 months pregnant, and gave birth at home in Rotterdam in June 07. I had the birth of my dreams (though of course, it was full of surprises!) with the help of an amazing midwife here, so I'm very happy to recommend her. Her name is Laura van Deth, and she has a website here:

http://www.onderwaterbevallen.nl/

She’s exactly what you’d want a homebirth midwife to be: knowledgeable, skillful and facilitative, trustworthy and empowering. She was there when I needed her for comfort, information, assistance, and advice. She helped to create and protect a safe and empowering environment in my home for the birth. When I reached full dilation, she massaged a last lip of the cervix over the baby’s head so that I smoothly transitioned into pushing. A medical doctor might not have had that kind of skill with their hands; in other hands, that cervical lip could have meant trouble and even a c-section. Laura just moved me right through it, the birth proceeded, and my baby son was born beautifully into a circle of love and light. She was amazing in the hours after the birth, as well, and later gave me back: magnificent photographs of the labor and birth that I will cherish forever, my baby’s placenta, dried and pulverized to a powder, for me to save or to re-ingest for its nutrients, and also the umbilical cord, rolled up into a translucent spiral.

I could tell you much more to recommend her. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to discuss this midwife, the Dutch prenatal and birth system, or my experience in particular. Holland is very open to and supportive of home birth, which makes it the luckiest place to be for an American interested in home birth. It is comforting to know that, if you had to transfer to the hospital during your birth (about 1 in 10 do so), that the hospital system would accept a home birth transfer as normal in a way it might not in the States. The assumption here is that a pregnant woman is treated by midwives; her pregnancy is considered a normal and healthy process. If tests or screenings show cause for medical concern, the pregnant woman is sent to an ob/gyn doctor. If her delivery is high-risk, she can deliver in the hospital.

Because Laura lived outside Amsterdam, about an hour away from me, I attended my regular checkups with a local midwifery clinic, associated with the local hospital. They all attended home births, but they were otherwise more like the normal nurse-midwives at ob/gyn practices in the States—sort of clinical and impersonal. Laura van Deth is an extraordinary midwife even by Dutch standards, as she is by any standard. She’s thoughtful and wise about her work. I feel very lucky to had found her, and am happy to pass that luck along to other women.

[hayesklein]

Yes, though her website is still Dutch, Laura speaks perfect English. She's also an expert in water birth.

[sarahmck]

NAK

I had Laura as my midwife, too. Ditto everything that hayesklein said. Also feel free to PM me for more info about her.

[rzberrymom]

NAK

I had Laura as my midwife, too. Ditto everything that hayesklein said. Also feel free to PM me for more info about her.

Hey, congrats Sarah!!!!! Amy and I were just wondering about both you and Krissie last week and whether the babies had come!!! I didn't see your signature until just now--I love his name!!

:balloons :jumpers:

[Bellabaz]

Thanks again fro the replies. My partner comes back tonight from the conference where he was meeting with the people from Delft Univ. Hopefully he has some good news about the offer they made him. I would really love to move the the NL.

I will keep in mind that midwife as well.

Thanks again!