What you need for your baby:

Care:

  • Changing pad
  • Plastic baby washtub
  • Bath thermometer
  • 1 pack Newborn diapers
  • digital thermometer
  • 6-10 hydrophilic (absorbent) diapers

Clothing:

  • 3 onesies size 50 - 56
  • rompers size 62 - 68
  • several pairs of socks
  • 4 sets of clothing (pants, T-shirts, socks, booties)
  • 2 hats
  • (most full-term babies will be good to go with size 50-56 for the first two months)

Sleeping:

  • 1 crib or cot
  • 2 waterproof mattress pads
  • 3 flannel-backed mattress covers
  • 3 fitted sheets
  • 2 blankets with 3 sheets
  • 2 baby bags or sleeping bags
  • 2 pairs of pyjamas
  • 2 aluminium hot-water bottles
  • 2 hot-water bottle covers

Transportation:

  • A car seat
  • Pram/baby carrier/sling

The First Week

If this is your first baby, we will visit you on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and if necessary also on the 9th day. We will check how you and your baby are doing, we will help you with breastfeeding and we will leave some instructions for the maternity nurse. If this is not your first child, we will visit you on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th day. If there are any problems, we can adjust our schedule and stop by in between visiting days. Sometimes a visit will only last 15 minutes, but of course we will always stay for as long as you need.

Hospital

Our visiting schedule will also become a little different when you or your baby have to stay in hospital. If this is the case, we will always make at least one visit, and if you feel the need you can always call the midwife on duty. The day after you and your baby arrive home, the normal visiting schedule will start.

Visits

Usually we will visit you between 9am and 1pm. If there are many deliveries at the same time, a visit might have to be postponed until the afternoon. During the visits, we will look at the results of the standard medical checks. We will discuss how the feeding is going, and if necessary we will give you more information and tips on this point. But above all, we are keen to see how you are doing. Are you feeling alright? Or are you feeling sad or emotional? How did you experience giving birth? How do you like your new (family) life with your baby? We will ask you all of these questions because it might very well be that you are not feeling well at all. In that case, we will be there for you, and if necessary, we will make sure you get professional help.

Talking about the delivery

It is important to take a moment to relive the intense, but very special experience of giving birth. We will try to arrange for the midwife who was present at your birth to visit you at home afterwards. This will give you and your partner the opportunity to ask questions about the delivery, and it will give us the chance to explain. If such a meeting turns out to be difficult to schedule, we will try to find an alternative solution.

Final consultation

During our final consultation, we will discuss several matters that will play a role in the next couple of months: feeding the baby, vitamin K and D, breastfeeding, and going back to work. We will discuss your transfer to the infant welfare centre (the “consultatiebureau) and your GP. We will also give you some exercises for your pelvic floor muscles and some positioning advice. We will discuss contraception, and we will invite you to come in for post natal checks.  

For us, saying goodbye after nine months of such close contact is still always a special moment.