Giving birth in the Netherlands: 5 things expats need to know

Giving birth in the Netherlands can feel both empowering and confusing, especially if you’re not familiar with the Dutch system.

While the Dutch approach is known for being natural and less medicalised, many expats experience a gap between understanding how the system works and actually feeling safe and confident within it.

At Natural Waves, we see birth not just as a medical event but as a transition that requires preparation on multiple levels: physical, mental, and emotional.

Here are 5 things to know, both practically and from a deeper perspective.

1. The Dutch birth care system is built on trust in the body

The Netherlands is known for its midwife-led care system and its focus on physiological birth. For many women, this can feel refreshing. For others, it can feel unfamiliar or even confronting, especially if you’re used to more medicalised care.

Understanding the system is one thing.
Feeling safe within it is something else.

2. Obstetrician vs Midwifery-led care in the Netherlands

What is unique about birthing in the Netherlands is that we still have a unique maternity care system with midwives and maternity nurses not seen elsewhere in the world. Unlike in other parts of the world, expectant mothers in the Netherlands are only required to visit a midwife. Here, a midwife is an autonomous healthcare professional with four years of training who is allowed to legitimately exercise obstetrics without the supervision of a medical doctor.

So you do not have to visit a gynaecologist to make sure your baby is healthy, because midwives are well-trained and will refer to a medical specialist if there is a medical necessity. You will find more information about midwifery in the Netherlands on the website of the KNOV (Dutch Association for Midwives). If you would like to step into the tradition of home birthing, make sure you find yourself an experienced midwife and consider attending a hypnobirthing course to master techniques for a calm, drug-free birth.

Insight: Home birth is an option—but always a choice

Although many articles and blogs on expat sites celebrate the Dutch home birth tradition and describe a birth culture with a strong preference for natural births, in reality, most Dutch women give birth in the hospital. Yes, in the 1950’s, about 80% of all babies were being born at home, but things have changed substantially (Source: Perined). Birthing has become more medicalised over the years, and giving birth in the hospital has become conventional. It is true that with a healthy pregnancy, you will always start your labour at home, but many moms-to-be will either choose to give birth in the hospital or a midwifery-led unit (geboortehuis or geboortecentrum) or will be transferred to the hospital because of a medical reason.

Thus, although the Netherlands is known for home births, the majority of women do not give birth at home.

You can choose:

• a home birth
• a birth centre
• or a hospital birth

What matters most is that you feel safe in your choice.

3. Your birth experience is shaped by more than the Dutch system

Research shows that it’s not only the care system that influences your birth experience, but also:

• how prepared you feel
• how much support you have
• and how safe and in control you experience the process

Dutch research (including work by Dr. Claire Stramrood) shows that a significant number of women experience their birth as overwhelming or even traumatic, often linked to a lack of communication, safety or sense of control.

At the same time, studies on continuous support (such as the doula effect and research from Maastricht UMC+ on continuous care during labour) show that consistent, personal support can lead to:

• fewer interventions
• less need for pain relief
• and a more positive birth experience

4. Birth preparation makes a real difference in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, you are often expected to take an active role in your birth preparation.

This can feel empowering—but also overwhelming if you don’t know where to start.

Birth preparation is not only about learning what might happen, but about:

• building trust in your body
• learning how to relax deeply
• understanding your responses to stress
• and feeling supported in your process

Insight: Dutch women fight for their birth rights, too

Because of an increasing medicalisation of birth, some Dutch women and birthright activists united and founded a Birth Right Association where birthing mothers could independently gain advice about their freedom of choice for individual birth wishes. It is called the Geboortebeweging and was founded in 2011. They own a thriving private Facebook group where interventions, guidelines and protocols are discussed by the Dutch birthright community.

Another initiative was founded in 2015 and is called Zelfbewust Zwanger. It is a client association of pregnant women in Holland that promotes the interests of pregnant women in birth care on a national level. They are involved in scientific research, development of quality standards and information materials, policy development and implementation in birth care.

5. Birth is not just one moment—it’s a transition

Birth doesn’t start when labour begins, and it doesn’t end when your baby is born.

From preparation to birth to postpartum, it is a continuous process.

At Natural Waves, we work with this as a journey:

• preparation before and during pregnancy
• support during birth
• and integration afterwards

This creates a deeper sense of continuity, trust and grounding.

Postpartum support Utrecht/Netherlands: Kraamzorg, The Golden Week & More

Because the Netherlands has an individualised culture, the 40 days of care for the newborn mother provided by the female line in the community is not present or reduced to some visits during the “kraamweek”, the first week of motherhood.

However, unlike many other countries, the Netherlands provides a professional maternity assistant who comes to your home in the first week. This isn’t just about medical checks; it’s about creating a ‘bubble’ where you can heal and bond.

The help of “kraamverzorgenden” is covered by the health insurance (hoorah!). Maternal nurses are not medically qualified. They do check the basic health of you and your newborn baby and perform small household chores, so you can focus on your recovery and bond with the baby. After six weeks, your midwife will usually perform a last check-up.

Nowadays, besides this “official” care, more in-depth complementary postpartum support is becoming more popular for Dutch women, for example, postpartum massages, provided by a holistic therapist or postpartum doula. In this way, you can also give yourself a warm landing as a new mother, focusing not only on the baby but also on this new phase of your own life, also called matrecence.

🌿 Giving birth in the Netherlands as a foreigner

If you’re navigating pregnancy in the Netherlands as an expat, it can help to have guidance that goes beyond the system itself.

Some women start with hypnobirthing as a first step, learning how to relax, breathe and work with their body.

Others feel the need for a more personal and integrated approach, where preparation, support and integration come together.

✨ You don’t have to figure it out alone

Understanding how birth works in the Netherlands is helpful.
But feeling calm, confident and supported within it, that’s where the real difference is made.

At Natural Waves, we use the language of the Heart: Even if everyone speaks English, the medical culture can feel direct. We help you find your voice, so you can communicate your boundaries and wishes clearly (using tools like a Birth Plan or B.R.A.I.N.S.). Natural doesn’t mean ‘without options’. While the focus is on physiological birth, pain relief is always a conversation you can have to be included in the birth plan. Preparation helps you navigate these choices from a place of calm, rather than panic.

If you feel you’d like more guidance, you’re welcome to explore:

Integrated Birth Path, Your Deep-Dive Pregnancy & Birth Journey

At Natural Waves, we work with birth preparation as a continuous process, rather than a single course.

This includes:

• preparation before and during pregnancy, both physically and mentally
• support leading up to the birth, with partner
• and integration afterwards, including physical recovery support

This approach with a partner creates more continuity, grounding and trust throughout the entire journey.

👉 Explore: the Integrated Birth Path

Hypnobirthing for expats in the Netherlands

For many expats, hypnobirthing is a powerful first step.

It helps you:

• relax deeply
• reduce fear and tension
• understand your body
• feel more in control

👉 Explore: Hypnobirthing for expats in the Netherlands

Last edited on 27th March 2026