Childbirth

You can give birth in two different places: at home or in a hospital. As expectant parents, you decide where you prefer to give birth.

At home

Everyone can and should give birth at home as long as the pregnancy and childbirth come along without any significant problems. Giving birth is a natural event that could very well take place in your own home. Should a situation arise where it’s necessary to visit a hospital, we will recognize that immediately and there will be plenty of time to go there.

Polyclinical

In case you prefer a polyclinical birth (also called ‘relocated home birth’) in the hospital, that’s also possible. We will assist you during delivery at Bernhoven Uden or the JBZ ‘s-Hertogenbosch Hospital. When you give birth in a hospital outpatient setting, the maternity nurse comes to the hospital to assist us during your delivery.

The hospital charges a rate of about €450,- for the “rent” of the delivery room. Should there be a medical indication, these costs will be reimbursed by your health insurance. When there is no medical indication, it depends on your insurance policy whether your health insurance will reimburse these costs. Please check your insurance’s policy with your health care provider in advance.

When everything goes well, and you and your baby are healthy, you will return home shortly after giving birth, even at night. The maternity nurse will go with you for a short period of time.

Hospital

If there is any medical reason (this could be during pregnancy and during childbirth), we will refer you to a gynecologist. The hospital birth will be guided by the midwife at the hospital under the responsibility of the gynecologist. In this case, all costs are reimbursed by your insurance. While under supervision of a gynecologist, a longer stay at the hospital will sometimes be necessary.

When should you call us?

The attending obstetrician can be reached day and night at 06-55 88 44 55

• When you are less than 37 weeks pregnant:
  Always call us right away in case of painful contractions and/or loss of amniotic fluid.
• When you are 37 weeks pregnant or more:
  Call us when you are having contractions.
• Also, please call us when you are having contractions every 3 to 5 minutes for more than one hour.

At first, contractions are often irregular and of short duration. Only after a couple of hours they will follow each other regularly and become more powerful. Irregular contractions are a preparation for childbirth but still aren’t an indication of when exactly you will go into labor. Having a first child is completely new for your body. You should keep in mind that childbirth takes – on average – 12 to 24 hours. When you are having a second child, it usually takes less time.

Amniotic fluid loss

When your water breaks, you will find yourself continually losing smaller amounts of warm water that you cannot stop (as you can do with urine). Your maternity package contains white stall bandages which you can use well to capture the amniotic fluid so that you can assess the color. Always keep all used bandages, so that we can check them for irregularities when necessary.

Undescended head

In case we’ve informed you at your consultation that your baby’s head has not descended yet, please lie down as soon as your water breaks. Wait until one of us is with you to check whether the baby’s head is descended by then.

Descended head

If the baby’s head is already descended, and your water breaks, look at the color of the amniotic fluid. ALWAYS call us immediately when it’s green or brown. When your water breaks after 22:00 and the amniotic fluid is colorless, then call us the next morning at 7:30. If you do not have steady contractions yet, you should NOT bathe. This is due to the risk of infection. Showering is allowed.

Blood loss

A little bloody mucus or a few drops of blood loss will not cause any harm, but in case of a bandage full of bright red blood loss, please make sure you inform us. Keep the bandage so that we can properly assess the blood loss. Bloody mucus is usually a piece of the mucus plug and says nothing about when you are going to give birth.

Worried?

In case you have any questions or worries, don’t hesitate to call us.

Folders and online course

You can follow an online course about pregnancy and giving birth.
Folder “Your birth: How do you prepare for birth?”
Folder “The birth of your baby: how do you deal with the pain?”