Dutch ladies: having a baby questions

[grosnl19]

So we are expected to be moving August 20th to central Amsterdam. DH's office is in Oosterdokseiland and we are hoping to live somewhat near there (with 20-25 commute on foot or public transportation). We are going July 4th for our house hunting trip.

Anywho. I am expected our first child in December.

What do I need to know about having a baby there? I am nervous about having a baby and more so in a different country.

I am hoping to find a OB that is open giving an epidural if I choose to, as I heard doctors tend not to interfer with the birthing process. If you want to recommend your OB that would be great.

Where did you buy your baby essentials? I tend to buy some stuff in the States since I will be going back twice before the baby is born, but somethings I will just buy in AMS as it will be more convient. What things should I buy in the States versus getting it in AMS?

[Cheesecake]

Don't have children yet, but didtead ALL my best friend's info for her when it wasn't available in English.
They surely aren't fans if epis here and yoy generally don't see an ob when pregnant unless you have medical issues. It's a midwife system here. Unless you're specifically insured for it or deemed medically necessary giving birth in the hospital isn't covered by insurance.
Having said this, I know that the Slotervaart hospital is VERY accomodating to women who prefer hospital births and pain management. As far as I know they're the only ones that are cool offering it (upon request) to women who don't require it medically.

Otherwise, I hope others have answers as I have no personal experience.

I have fat fingers, please excuse typos!

[clogged]

Hi! I had a baby in Amsterdam a couple years ago, and am do again in October. Feel free to PM me with any questions!

You will most likely never see a doctor. Unless you or baby are in dire circumstances you will be seeing midwives. Just so you know, the midwives here are highly trained pros. Your GP will actually refer you to a midwife (you won't get an OB/GYN). Even for a high-risk birth (like mine) you will have them. They are THAT medically qualified. Just want to toss that out there. Don't panic when your doc tells you to get a midwife!

There was a massive reform in 2009 (give or take) so what you hear about birth here is probably outdated and now false. Most articles I read online were old info. Now days... Home births are at 30% and dropping- it really isn't the norm anymore. Any high risk is required to be in hospital. Only one hospital doesn't do epidurals (but they are some tiny podunk hospital no where near Amsterdam so won't be an issue for you), and all of them offer other types of pain relief. They aren't big on c-sections so they will let you labor as long as possible and as long as both of you are safe before suggesting one. You can have birthing chairs, water births, whatever floats your boat. Some hospitals and birthing centers are better equipped than others so if you want something very specific, shop around first. The stand back and wait policy is, however, true. There isn't much you can do while the baby is baking, so they don't do much but let baby bake. You will get scans, blood tests, and regular health checks. But you won't get the extra ones unless they are medically necessary.

Most tremendously massive important thing is your insurance. Stateside insurance most often is not adequate. Check, double check, and get it in writing they will cover the Dutch way. Since you want an epi, you will be hospital. Assuming you are under 35 and have no risk factors, this is how you can expect to have it play out:

Find midwife. Find one you like and speaks damn good English. You will have a good range of choices and not be limited, just google them. (I live 45 min away so I can't recommend mine as they only do locals.) They work in teams. Ask them to help you get "kraamzorg" (more on that in a minute), and to walk you through your specific game plan for your specific birth needs & wants. You will see them for blood pressure checks, listening to the heart, ultrasounds, etc. They can also hook you up with birth classes, hospital tours, and breast-feeding courses (if that's what you opt for).

At onset of labor, once you get going but before you REALLY get going, they send someone over to your house to hang with you. They may check you for fluid leaking, how your cervix is doing, that kind of thing if you are far enough along. They won't mess with you too early cuz it's hella painful and they don't want to cause pain. Once you get close to the birthin-behbeh point, you head to the hospital. Most likely you will be handed off to the hospital midwife staff, but sometimes yours hangs around.

At the hospital you will either hang out in a ward (if you aren't quite there yet) or head right into a delivery room. They like to keep wards empty, so most likely your midwife will bring you in only when it looks like you are delivery room ready. Get your Epi. Get hooked up to a few machines. Expect to be bed-bound at this point. Chill out and wait for your contractions to do the work. At the right time, you push and become a mom! They prefer to put the baby directly onto your chest area, skin on skin before they wipe down/do any minor checks. I had my baby in my arms before they even cut the cord. Once we established a bond, they took her away, wiped her down, did some detail checks, and brought her right back.

Once you pee on your own and shower they send home. This is normally between 2 & 4 hours after birth. Do not panic. It makes sense in Dutch-world. Bear with me. You may stay longer because of the epi, but don't expect many more hours. They want you out of there as fast as possible. (c-sections are given overnight stays, babies for nicu also have mom accomodations. but normal births are like fast-food drive-thru: in and out). Before you leave the hospital, they will have called "kraamzorg".

Kraamzorg.... A lady will be waiting for you at home or shortly (within minutes) of you getting there. Even if it's 2 am on Christmas day, she will be there. She will be the best damn thing ever and you will pity moms who gave birth anywhere but here. Her job is to check baby and most of all look after you. Expect her to be there 8-12 hours her first shift. She will check on you in general, bleeding volume, temp, eating and drinking amounts, urination times, the works. Think private in-home hospital care. She will also be on hand for baby feeding, changing, temping, weighing, and charting baby's progress. She won't take over and follow yoir parenting style to the letter, but help you however she can. Even more.... she will clean your house, change your sheets daily, do your laundry, do light grocery shopping, make your meals and serve them to you in bed. If you have guests popping in, she will entertain them and bring them coffee until you are ready to see them, or send them home if you are not. She will pretty much force you to stay in bed and recover. They Dutch may not give a toss when you are preggers, but afterward birth they are all over you like white on rice. Kraamzorg ends between 8 & 12 days, but for a fee you can extend it up for a month. They start long hours, but peter out towards the end as you recover and settle into role.

This is why the hospital stays are short. They want you home, in your bed, in your comfy space- but they give you the medical care for you and baby that frankly is better than ward care. The only problem is US insurance likes hospital stays and not after care. Thus the "make sure yours covers it" warning. You may opt to get Dutch insurance just in case.

Over a few weeks, your midwife pops by for quick checks on you and baby. At one point she hands you over to the GGD. The GDD is the equivalent of a pediatrician. The first visit is in home- they will check baby's hearing, do blood prick, and give you all info about vaxing, what services are for you, nutrition, etc. Subsequent visits are at their clinics. They are all over so you won't have to travel far. They also have walk-in days if you want to meet other moms. If you child has issues, they are the ones to refer you on to specialists.

I think that covers it. Sorry for the novel, but from my experience it's hard to get a time line of what to expect from pregnancy through school-age in English. At least one that is post 2009 so it has actual, factual info.

[clogged]

Oh... as for stuff. The kraamzorg will give you a detailed list of what you need for you for recovery, and what baby needs to start. I found most of it at HEMA (Dutch version of target).

I recommend getting anything metric here- thermometers, cribs & crib sheets that kind of thing. Therms will be put in the butt. No exception. Skip the ear ones. They also require hot water canisters which isn't found stateside. Car seat MUST be an EU seat, not American, so plan on buying it here. The car-to-stroller ones are not compatable with USA strollers most of the time. Plan on buying that here too.

Baby stuff is expensive so as many toys, clothes, bouncers, rockers, whatevers you can bring in the better.

[grosnl19]

Thank you for everyones input. I know we will have private insurance, I believe the name is Zilveren Kruis. I don't know the specifics on what it will cover at the moment, I will contact our relocation specialist to see if they can give me more details. DH's company is Dutch based so I am sure it is Dutch insurance.

I am 34 not sure if that would be considered "high-risk" in The Netherlands.

[grosnl19]

Jun 12, 2012 6:53:42 GMT -5 clogged said:

Oh... as for stuff. The kraamzorg will give you a detailed list of what you need for you for recovery, and what baby needs to start. I found most of it at HEMA (Dutch version of target).

I recommend getting anything metric here- thermometers, cribs & crib sheets that kind of thing. Therms will be put in the butt. No exception. Skip the ear ones. They also require hot water canisters which isn't found stateside. Car seat MUST be an EU seat, not American, so plan on buying it here. The car-to-stroller ones are not compatable with USA strollers most of the time. Plan on buying that here too.

Baby stuff is expensive so as many toys, clothes, bouncers, rockers, whatevers you can bring in the better.

Oh we won't have a car in AMS so one less thing to buy.

[clogged]

Nope. It's over 35. Unless you have another risk factor like diabetes, high blood pressure, Rhneg, that kind of thing.

I am 41 @ time of birth and have a blood disorder so I am strictly hospital bound PLUS early induction. Yeah me. (said sarcastically).

I go to the OLVG. I like it because it's a Catholic hospital so they have a lovely little attached chapel I like to hang in (other than that, you wouldn't know it was a Catholic hospital. There aren't nuns and priests lurking). They are smaller so don't have a neo-natal unit though. Mine gives epidurals, shots of morphine (not drip, unless that changed since my last birth), and a few other pain killers. They were way cool with the "so, you want drugs now? let's bring it on" and not at all "nah, you can wait, it's natural". AMC is the big one in town. I have only been there for my amnio, not to give birth.

[Cheesecake]

When you (or YH's company ) sets up your insurance, make sure they add 'gezinsplanning' or 'zwangerschap' or something like that. The names are different witg each company, but it's an additional "family planning" midyle added to your insurance, which covers a lot of non medically necessary stuff and usually costs 5euros a month (also includes birth control and stuff like that).

I have fat fingers, please excuse typos!

[crimsonandclover]

Holy crap, that Kraamzorg sounds amazing! In Germany they're big on midwives, too, and your midwife will come and visit you every day for 1-2 hours after you come home and then slowly space out the visits, but she doesn't do your laundry for you!! I'll have to talk to my midwife about that :-) She'll get a kick out of it, for sure.

[clogged]

I tell you, if the word on kraamzorg got out everyone will come here for birth.

[oneslybookworm]

And this is why I want to totally just "oops" DH and get pregnant here. Kraamzorg for the WIN!

[dulcemariamar]

OMG. I am so jealous now. Why did you have to tell us all this?? That sounds so awsome.

[Cheesecake]

Bookworm, you'll need to deliver here, have kraamzorg here and then move to a country that has the awesome maternity leave packages (Didn't Crimson recently teach us that Germany has a total of 14 months of parental leave??) (Or just not move at all so we can play with your behbeh!)

Oh, and grosnl19, I checked the zilveren Kruis site, and you'll probably want a 2 star or higher optional extra insurance. That'll cover your co-pay on the hospital maternity care, plus it gives you 100 percent international health insurance (worldwide) "up to 12 months out of the year, if necessary". (Plus a whole lot of other extra stuff, but those 2 things are the ones that are probably most important for your family.)

[grosnl19]

Jun 12, 2012 6:53:42 GMT -5 clogged said:

Oh... as for stuff. The kraamzorg will give you a detailed list of what you need for you for recovery, and what baby needs to start. I found most of it at HEMA (Dutch version of target).

I recommend getting anything metric here- thermometers, cribs & crib sheets that kind of thing. Therms will be put in the butt. No exception. Skip the ear ones. They also require hot water canisters which isn't found stateside. Car seat MUST be an EU seat, not American, so plan on buying it here. The car-to-stroller ones are not compatable with USA strollers most of the time. Plan on buying that here too.

Baby stuff is expensive so as many toys, clothes, bouncers, rockers, whatevers you can bring in the better.

I heard you have to register for the Kraamzorg as soon as finding out your preggo because there is a shortage of them, is that true?

If so, I probaby won't be able to do that once we move and I register myself at the town hall. Hopefully that isn't too late to get a Kraamzorg.

I am getting all my information from this great book I got called the "Holland Handbook, a guide for expatriates". It is the 2011-12 edition, but I know things work differently in practice.

Thanks everyone for your practical advice...it really helps.

[grosnl19]

Jun 12, 2012 8:40:11 GMT -5 Cheesecake said:

When you (or YH's company ) sets up your insurance, make sure they add 'gezinsplanning' or 'zwangerschap' or something like that. The names are different witg each company, but it's an additional "family planning" midyle added to your insurance, which covers a lot of non medically necessary stuff and usually costs 5euros a month (also includes birth control and stuff like that).

I have fat fingers, please excuse typos!

Dumb question...does insurance cover any baby stuff...specifically a breast pump? I am looking at buying one in the States, but if it is covered by our Dutch insurance I don't want to blow $300 on one.

[clogged]

Some insurances cover it. You can rent a hospital-grade and sanitized one through kraamzorg.

They would like you to register at 3 months for kraamzorg. But, they will take you at any time. I mean, you can't register until you move here so it isn't like you were lazy and just didn't bother! With my last, we waited until 25 weeks. The first we tried was booked when we did the online form, but then had a spot "magically" open up when we called them and told them the reasons why we waited to contact them. In the end, someone has to let you in.

[Cheesecake]

Guess what, Zilveren Kruis actually has a decent English language website, with info about what packages to choose (and what they do and don't offer in which package). Check it out here.

Thing is with Dutch insurance is that YOU choose what you want to insure and how much you pay. You don't even have to go with the one your employer (your DH's in this case) suggests. The only reason they suggest that one, is that they have a deal with them and you get a discount. That's for 'basic insurance', the national plan everyone in NL has to have (and what it covers is decided by government - the basics, basically). The supplemental modules/plans are up to yourself and usually hard to come by if you don't get them from the same insurance company.

The most extensive plans MIGHT require medical checks before acceptance (that's usually just for the they cover everything, but the premium isn't that high plan') also dental is always separate and whether or not that's useful for you, totally depends on the quality of your teeth.

Anyway, the English insurance site is here: www.zilverenkruis.nl/English/insurances/supplementary-insurances/Pages/default.aspx
And using the 'pakketkeuze assistent' should really help you figure out what works best for your family! (oh, and you can change your insurance and which supplements you have annually on Jan 1st to go to a cheaper package, or with most companies 'whenever' when you go to a more expensive package. If you change halfway through the year (unless it's your first time getting insurance in NL) they might have a waiting period of 6 months for specific benefits. So make sure you're not getting in on a too low program and have to change it after 2 weeks or so...

[clogged]

Great info!!! I just let the H sort out insurance so I have no clue other than you need it.

[grosnl19]

Jun 13, 2012 4:56:59 GMT -5 Cheesecake said:

Guess what, Zilveren Kruis actually has a decent English language website, with info about what packages to choose (and what they do and don't offer in which package). Check it out here.

Thing is with Dutch insurance is that YOU choose what you want to insure and how much you pay. You don't even have to go with the one your employer (your DH's in this case) suggests. The only reason they suggest that one, is that they have a deal with them and you get a discount. That's for 'basic insurance', the national plan everyone in NL has to have (and what it covers is decided by government - the basics, basically). The supplemental modules/plans are up to yourself and usually hard to come by if you don't get them from the same insurance company.

The most extensive plans MIGHT require medical checks before acceptance (that's usually just for the they cover everything, but the premium isn't that high plan') also dental is always separate and whether or not that's useful for you, totally depends on the quality of your teeth.

Anyway, the English insurance site is here: www.zilverenkruis.nl/English/insurances/supplementary-insurances/Pages/default.aspx
And using the 'pakketkeuze assistent' should really help you figure out what works best for your family! (oh, and you can change your insurance and which supplements you have annually on Jan 1st to go to a cheaper package, or with most companies 'whenever' when you go to a more expensive package. If you change halfway through the year (unless it's your first time getting insurance in NL) they might have a waiting period of 6 months for specific benefits. So make sure you're not getting in on a too low program and have to change it after 2 weeks or so...

Thanks this is GREAT info!!

I started to choose, but OMG there are so many choices and I am not sure what some of it means. Yikes

[Cheesecake]

I'll PM you my e-mail address, I'm pretty good at legal and medical Dutch to English translations if you need to know what they mean (as I can look up the original dutch terms)

[tktravels]

Jun 12, 2012 12:50:04 GMT -5 dulcemariamar said:

OMG. I am so jealous now. Why did you have to tell us all this?? That sounds so awsome.

This times a million.

I'm due in January with our first, and we're moving back to the US just before my 3rd trimester due to

a) poor insurance coverage here - basically we just get to pay for everything, despite having health insurance

b) my friends here (Poland) have told me that giving birth here is a real horror show

Maybe we should just go to the Netherlands instead!

[glitterfart]

Jun 12, 2012 11:44:56 GMT -5 crimsonandclover said:

Holy crap, that Kraamzorg sounds amazing! In Germany they're big on midwives, too, and your midwife will come and visit you every day for 1-2 hours after you come home and then slowly space out the visits, but she doesn't do your laundry for you!! I'll have to talk to my midwife about that :-) She'll get a kick out of it, for sure.

Uhhmm, you got a way better deal than I did. I didn´t see mine until a week after the baby was here, and then I saw her a total of six times in five months....yeah, super helpful. Next time I´m going with a different one.