Family Portrait
The Dutch know how to treat new mothers. All of the American mommies will be jealous after reading the standard benefits here in the Netherlands. All women get 4 months paid leave (usually 4 weeks before and 3 months after birth). In comparison to the 4 months Mom gets off, Dad gets off a grand total of 2 days! In Denmark, the parents get an entire year of paid pregnancy leave, but I don’t think that will be coming here or to the US any time soon.
Ready for Lunch!
To make sure mother and baby are well cared for after the birth, all insurance companies cover about 10 days of “home care”. A trained “kraamzorg medewerker” (roughly translated as after-birth care person) comes to your home for 6-8 hours a day for about 10 days. She cares for the baby and gives the new parents a crash course in Diapering for Dummies. She also does light housework, and brings mom breakfast and lunch in bed. You could get used to treatment like that!
Ready for the first walk
During those 10 days of home-care, all the health-care professionals also come to your house. We had the midwife (verloskundige in Dutch) visit almost every other day to check up on Mom and baby. A woman came to check Leah’s hearing, and another to explain how medical care works for children in the Netherlands. Here, all children under 18 insured by the government and have special resources for care.
Midwife weighing newborn Leah (she is in the little white bag)
As a special treat for the new mom, she is usually given a “kraam maand” (after-birth gift basket) by her family. It contains 7 little presents, one for each day of the first week home. Nettie and Femke gave me a beautiful basket with gifts for Leah and me…
The Netherlands defiantly know how to treat new mommies!
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