I am sharing with you the experience of a Slovenian woman who moved to the Netherlands and “went through” her first pregnancy and childbirth there. I am very grateful to her for sharing this story with me and allowing me to publish it. This way, I can present the local midwifery practice through the eyes of a layperson. There, home births are considered “normal,” and hospital births are common for those who experience complications during pregnancy.

“Upon seeing the positive test, we were both a little surprised. Of course, we had somewhat planned it, but neither of us imagined it would happen so quickly! What now?

Given that I live in the Netherlands, I had to find out how prenatal care works here. Fortunately, I have friends who have already given birth here and were helpful. I filled out a form on the midwifery practice’s website and waited for them to call me back. At the first appointment, a kind midwife explained that all low-risk and uncomplicated pregnancies here are managed by midwives. Right from the start, they told me I could choose between a home birth or a hospital birth.

My first check-up was around the 7th week, where they confirmed the pregnancy and scheduled me for around the 11th week to determine the due date. Standard ultrasound examinations here are also within the midwives’ domain. Of course, you also get pictures that you can later stick on the fridge and proudly show everyone your little dot!

My midwives (I still call them that, even though my last check-up with them is in about a week) were truly great. Appointments were supposed to last 15 minutes, but they always took their time and explained things further if needed. A standard check-up consisted of measuring the abdomen (or the size of the uterus from the pubic bone to its top), listening to the baby’s heartbeat with a Doppler, and palpating the uterus and, later in pregnancy, the baby’s position. They also measured blood pressure and checked iron levels. However, most of the time was dedicated to conversation. They talked about breastfeeding, the course of the pregnancy, and how I was feeling. At first, I was somewhat distrustful because I was used to a slightly different approach from medical staff in Slovenia. It’s not that I didn’t have good doctors and gynecologists, but everything there was always super planned down to the minute, and I always forgot to ask things I was still curious about. Here, I always came armed with a list of questions, which usually led to new questions, and they always had answers for me and managed to calm me down perfectly if I felt something was wrong.

When my pregnancy started to get complicated in the 31st week and I was referred to the hospital, I really started to miss those conversations and, above all, the feeling that someone had a really good overview of me, the little being inside me, and the pregnancy in general. I missed the personal relationship I had managed to establish with ‘my’ midwives. As for the hospital experience, I don’t even know what to say. The nurses were (mostly) golden and tried very hard to make me as comfortable as possible. The doctors were kind, and the professionalism was truly at a high level, but in the end, that didn’t help much because I essentially saw a different doctor every day, which slowly became exhausting. I slowly got the feeling that this pregnancy would last forever, even though I had an induced labor scheduled for the 37th week. The endless examinations, the anticipation of complications, and above all, the lack of that personal relationship were truly exhausting. I was most saddened because I knew that none of my midwives, whom I knew and trusted, would be present at the birth.

The birth experience, however… The birth was quick, induced with artificial oxytocin, and I already wish that the next birth will proceed without it. 😉

At the end of this ‘story,’ there is, of course, a happy ending. A healthy baby boy was born in mid-March, who is already causing gray hairs for me and his father and bringing immense joy.”

The boy was born in April 2013, and now he already has a little brother, born in February 2015 🙂

Read more: Midwifery in Northern Norway – an experience from an independent midwifery unit