Maternity period

And then, finally, your baby is here. Suddenly you live in a world where all words start with the word ‘kraam’. Maternity! You are a ‘kraamvrouw’, your partner or husband is the ‘kraamheer’, you are accompanied by a kraamverzorgende, which is your maternity nurse. You wear ‘kraamverband’, which are maternity dressings, and unfortunately there are often also maternity tears. Fortunately in most families there also is full maternity happiness. Kraamgeluk!

The first weeks
In the first weeks after giving birth to your baby, in the maternity period, there will also be regular contact between the midwife and you as young parents. During these first weeks, we are responsible for the care for you and your baby and we will visit you a number of times to see how you are getting on. We will talk extensively about the delivery, we give information, assess the check-ups done by the maternity nurse and help you, if necessary, with feeding and latching the baby onto your breast. You can also use our emergency line 24/7 during the maternity period. Many parents find it reassuring to just ask that one particular question before going into the night.

Psychology
The first few weeks after your baby has been born can be an emotional rollercoaster. A delivery that went differently than you had hoped for, the baby interrupting your sleep, the physical recovery, and another flood of changing hormones in the first week after delivery. But, most of all, the all-consuming love that you can suddenly feel for your newborn child. The sense of vulnerability that goes with this. For many young parents, this is all quite overwhelming. The biggest tip for this time is: rest, take your time and sleep whenever you can. There is no need to pretend that you are stronger than you really are. Allow yourself to enjoy being pampered.

Maternity care
The maternity nurse who cares for you in the first week at home is our eyes and ears. She monitors you and takes care of you. She shows you the practical care for your baby and helps you with feeding. We like to work together with the maternity nurses from our own maternity centre. We know each other very well. We know who is in which family and that allows for short lines of communication, safety, and peace of mind. We have regular meetings with our maternity centre to align the care between the midwives and maternity care as effectively as possible.

Follow-up care
At around 6 weeks after, delivery we will like to see you again at our practice. We prefer to wait until then to conclude the care period. We will discuss your experience with us, we check your fitness, your abdominal muscles, the recovery of your pelvic floor, your blood pressure and, if necessary, the iron content in your blood. It’s a pleasant way of concluding our relationship and perhaps we meet again if there is another baby coming.