Sun, 22 November 2009
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Editor Natasha Gunn tries to answer readers' questions about having a baby in Holland.Dear editor,
As a first time mother to be I found the article Having a baby in Holland to be quite terrifying. There are horror stories about childbirth no matter which country you live in, I don't think it is necessary to draw attention to these to women who are already anxious about experiencing childbirth away from home. I agree that some information like requesting pain relief in advance is helpful as you wouldn't necessarily think about that, but perhaps an article with more facts and information about finding a midwife, how to go about organising the kraamzorg and such like would be more helpful.
Regards,
Angela
Dear editor,
I'm 22 years old and from Latin America, Peru. I live in Den Haag and I’m near to eight months pregnant. During all my check-ups with the midwife, they didn’t give all the information that I wanted. I mostly got the information from Spanish language websites. I just read about a Spanish woman living in Holland who asked for an epidural in Holland when she was having contractions but the doctor told her that they don’t give epidurals because they are too expensive. I don’t understand why, considering the economy is better in Holland than in Latin America and this country is more highly developed than Latin America.
Regards,
Sindy
The editor replies:
Dear Angela and Sindy,
I did some research - as well as drawing on my own experience of giving birth at home twice in Holland - in an attempt to answer your questions, and at least point you to reliable sources of information.
Finding a midwife
Word-of-mouth is always the best way to find a midwife in your area, but if you don’t know anyone who can help then visit the Royal Dutch Organisation of Midwives (KNOV) KNOV website. From the homepage, click on the right-hand icon called 'zoek een verloskundige' and fill in your postcode. This will give you a list of KNOV member midwives in your neighbourhood. You can always change your midwife during the pregnancy should you wish to.
I think it's a scandal that women have effectively no choice to give birth with effective painkillers in the Netherlands. A friend of mine recently gave birth to her first child, and her Dutch midwife refused to give her objective information about pain relief. When she asked about what kind of pain relief was available to her in the hospital, the midwife's response was, "There is a shower available".
I don't want to get down on all midwives; I'm sure many of them do just as good a job as obstetricians (if not better), but the profession seems to select for people who think that childbirth should be this mystical, magical moment in a woman's life.
That's just a mistake, and one that IMHO causes a lot of unnecessary misery for a lot of women.
Of course it's wise for a woman to be informed of the risks and benefits of various pain relief options available to her, and to be aware of non-medical things she can do to cope with the pain (anesthetic doesn't always work, or work properly). But that's quite different than using scare tactics to suggest that not only is pain relief going to doom the baby, but it's a sign of unwomanly weakness.
In my English spoken childbirth preparation class (I loved it by the way: cursusbevallen.nl) we were, like you said, well informed about painrelief. Our teacher told us why here in the Netherlands they are so carefull with it. The story made sense and helped me to have faith as well, because it is not about having women suffering in childbirth! And she told us about the new pollicy here in the Netherlands that women should get painrelief if they asked for it, so don't worry.
Find yourself a good class and get well informed. Take care, kim.
Here’s a current guide to health insurance, doctors, dentists and pharmacies.
Lost in the Dutch immigration system? Look no further than this guide compiled for our Survival Guide 2009.
Some basic facts and figures about living and working in the Netherlands.
The challenges and benefits of the maternity system in the Netherlands and how it differs to other countries.
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