Inspiring Policy From the Netherlands
This article from the St. Charles Journal is a few days old, but it’s still an interesting read. The subject: Tom-Jan Meeus, a journalist from the Netherlands who is traveling around the United States, and writing about politics and culture here. The article describes some stories Meeus has reported on recently, and one of them is the midwifery issue in Missouri. Meeus notes that midwifery has gained wider acceptance in the Netherlands:
“My two kids were born with the help of the midwives,” he says.
The author of the article seems more interested in Meeus’ predictions about Obama, and quickly moves on to discuss politics and the upcoming election. The comments to the article, though, pick up on the midwife issue. Here’s what “Natalie” has to say:
I love that he interviewed the woman and her midwife. Very cool. That is definitely a big issue right now, whether women here will have the freedoms women have in other states and countries, and the access to skilled and personal care during pregnancy and birth.
I rarely find myself arguing that Missouri should resemble Scandinavian countries, but on the question of freedom for midwives and expecting parents, I’ve got to agree. Oh, and we could use more parental choice in education, too.
I’m a St. Louis native who lived in the Netherlands for 2.5 years before moving to London (Dave Stokes will know me). Our daughter was born in Amsterdam last August. Not only do the Dutch mainly use midwives, but approximately 30% of children are born at home (down from 70% 15 years ago we were told).
We only saw a doctor once and that was our choice at the beginning to confirm everything. We found a midwife group that we were very comfortable with and they were terrific throughout the process. All of our visits were to them until actual delivery. Each of the 4 had delivered over 150 babies each. We chose to have the baby at the hospital with a doctor, but we knew several Americans who chose the home birth method. As a Dutch resident you are also allowed a nurse to come to the house for the first week anywhere from 4-8 hours a day to assist. They will do everything from teaching you how to bathe and feed the baby to light cleaning and watching other children. Most people we know said that is the best part of the entire process.
Its a different concept than anywhere else in Europe, but it seems to work for them. It allows lots of individual choice, and costs vary accordingly.
Also, the Netherlands is not a Scandanavian country !!
Comment by Mike — July 28, 2008 @ 6:39 a.m.