Your verloskundige (midwife) will attend the labour and delivery. She will also help with preparations to ensure the safety and comfort of you and your child. Should any complications arise, you will be taken to hospital.

The Dutch health and safety regulations require that your bed is elevated with ‘klossen’. This way you have a means for adjusting the height of your bed to 80 cm from the ground to the top of your mattress. This is a requirement for the kraamverzorgende (maternity aide) when she comes to your house once your child is born (usually during the first week after birth).

There are Dutch online shops that provide all the necessary equipment for a home birth, the so-called ‘kraampakket’ and postnatal care. This equipment may also be useful even if you do not give birth at home. You can buy it at a drugstore or check with your insurance company if they cover or provide it for you. Alternatively, you can conduct an Internet search using the terms ‘thuiszorg’ (homecare) and ‘winkels’ (shops).

In the Netherlands, only a third of women in labour are given pain relief, and caesareans are relatively low, there is 24/7 availability of epidural pain relief for women in labour,  making it much easier to get an epidural. Please note that medical pain relief cannot be administered during home births. Midwives in the Netherlands are not qualified to administer anaesthetics and are restricted to using only non-prescription drugs. Your midwife can then refer you to a hospital or birth centre, but please be aware that there is not always an anaesthetist (the person who will be able to give you the epidural) available outside normal working hours.

During pregnancy, Dutch midwives provide information about medical pain relief, and they provide high quality continuous support during birth. In this way, they try to optimise their care and minimise the need for medical pain relief.

In most cases the costs for giving birth are covered by the Dutch health insurance. However, you will have to pay the costs yourself if you decide to give birth in a hospital or birth centre without a medical necessity for doing so. Sometimes the additional insurance covers some of the costs. Please check with your insurance about what is covered.