By the way, according to statistics, the level of infant and maternal mortality in this country is minimal!
Impressive, right? Let’s look at the Dutch pregnancy in more detail.
A woman learns about her beautiful position and …. No, she does not run headlong to the hospital, as is customary with us. By the end of the first trimester (12 weeks), she goes to the midwife, who will guide her (if I may say so in this situation).
And after passing the necessary tests (blood for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis and sugar) and ultrasound, she will decide whether the expectant mother needs a doctor or not at all. The second option is more common, since, again, pregnancy in Holland is not equated with illness.
So, what options “where and how to give birth” does a woman have? There are five of them:
– at home with an independent midwife (her woman chooses herself),
– in a maternity hotel with an independent midwife, who is also chosen by herself, or offered by an obstetric center,
– in a maternity center with the most comfortable, almost home environment and an independent midwife,
– a hospital with an independent midwife,
– in a hospital with a doctor and a hospital midwife (an extreme case, usually used in severe pregnancy).
On what does this or that choice depend? Directly from the risk category to which the woman belongs. By the way, an entire national book is devoted to risk categories. Probably, you are already tormented by the question: Why is it different with us? Why is home birth safe for some and dangerous for others? Another physiology or what?. The answer is simple: a different mentality, a different level of service, a different development of the country as a whole.
What do you think, is an ambulance on duty under the windows of a home woman in labor? Of course not! But in Holland there is a clear and, importantly, always enforced rule: if for some reason the midwife who takes delivery calls an ambulance, then she must arrive within 15 minutes. Yes, anywhere in the country. All midwives are highly qualified and have a decent level of education, so they can calculate the development of events 20 minutes ahead.
“Maybe women who choose home births aren’t smart enough or don’t take their position very seriously,” you might think. But even here the answer is negative. There is one interesting fact that is confirmed by research: home births are chosen by women with a higher level of education and IQ.
Very carefully, gradually, the practice of home birth penetrates into our consciousness. More and more often they talk about it, write about it, and someone even tries it on themselves. This is good news, because there are certainly many advantages to this type of childbirth: a cozy, bright environment that has nothing to do with the gray walls of hospital wards, an invaluable opportunity to be heard and choose the most comfortable position for childbirth, accompanying the process as part of a non-crowd nurses, doctor, obstetrician, and in the presence of the chosen midwife, etc. The list goes on.
But the main advice is: listen to yourself, feel, study before making such an important choice in life. Remember that here you are responsible not only for your own.