Giving birth: After nine months of waiting and anticipating, it will finally happen.
If you want, you can prepare yourself extensively for labour
You can prepare yourself for labour in different ways. You probably want to talk it through with your partner and possibly with friends and family as well. You can also attend antenatal classes. There are lots of websites about it and a great number of shelves could be filled with books about giving birth. So during pregnancy you will probable get your ideas about labour and what's important to you while you’re going through it.
Discuss labour during a consultation
We will of course inform you extensively about childbirth. Prior to discussing your labour, we will have to know more about how your pregnancy is progressing: your blood pressure, how your baby has been growing and its position. This information is important and will be considered during our childbirth consultation. This meeting will therefore only take place at a later stage in your pregnancy; when you are about 34 weeks pregnant. That is when we can potentially also discuss your birth plan. Of course, if you feel you’d like to, you are more than welcome to discuss labour and birth during earlier consultations.
Antenatal classes
There is a great variety of antenatal classes on offer in Amsterdam. You can take a course in ‘breathing techniques’, yoga, mensendieck, haptonomy, swimming or exercising in the park. Online, alone or together with your partner, in Dutch, English, Turkish or Arabic. Whatever works best for you! We have created a list of classes we and our clients would recommend.
All these different courses have in common is that they provide information about all the physical and mental changes that take place during your pregnancy and during childbirth. You will be taught relaxation techniques that can help you cope with contractions as well. Moreover, this will give you the opportunity to get in touch with other pregnant women.
Information films about the delivery and postpartum period
Previously (in the past, long ago, pre-Corona ....) we organized an information meeting about the delivery once a month. We didn't restart these meetings because we now have a good alternative! We have included the content of the information on 4 videos. We talk about the normal course of the delivery and about how care is organized during the delivery. You will also hear about how to deal with contraction pain, both with and without pain medication. We also tell about the physical and psychological changes during the postpartum period. Around 30 weeks of pregnancy - or earlier on request - we will send you the Vimeo links for the videos by email.
Newborn baby essentials
A newborn baby doesn’t need much: somewhere to sleep, some clothes to wear but most of all a baby needs tender loving care. There are, however, some essential items you will need for both the delivery and care for the baby afterwards, which should be part of your Labour & Birth Box (kraampakket). Please check whether your insurance will send you a Labour & Birth Box well in advance. If they don’t, you can always purchase a pre-packed Labour & Birth Box at your high street chemists’, or order online.
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To find out exactly what you need, please download our new arrival essentials checklist.