Maternity hours

Amount of hours of maternity care

The amount of hours and days of maternity care depends on your family situation, the course of the birth and your recovery after birth. For this there are national guidelines which every maternity care organisation applies in the same way. If there is nothing unusual this is 45-49 hours divided over eight days.

Organizing informal care

The care and guidance of you and your child are always the first priority for our maternity nurse. If the attention of your maternity nurse is mainly directed at you and your baby then for household chores will become of secondary importance.
The national guidelines assume in this case that you will arrange your own informal care. Informal care (in dutch it is called ‘mantelzorg’) is the name for voluntary help  given to each other. It is the help we receive from: the partner, household members, grandparents or neighbours.
The maternity nurse will take care of basic household chores which directly influence the care for you and your baby. For the other household chores, which the new mother temporarily may not be able to perform, informal care may be enabled. For example for the care of other children in the family, purchasing of groceries and preparing dinner. It is important that you arrange informal care, on time, from within your own social surroundings, for the period after giving birth.

It is of course possible to discuss certain tasks with your maternity nurse, like for example tasks which aren’t a part of her official care duties.

When will you know how many hours of maternity care you will receive?

During the intake interview, after having given birth and during the maternity care, an assessment may be made on how many hours of maternity care are needed for optimal care and support.

During the intake interview the amount of maternity hours are determined by, amongst other things:

• The course of the pregnancy
• If relevant, the course of previous pregnancies and births
• What is your medical history and that of any children you may have
• Will you breastfeed or bottle feed
• What is your home situation
• What are your personal wishes and requirements

More or less hours

At the start of the maternity care an assessment will be made to see if the amount of hours allotted during the intake are still enough. In case of unforeseen complications during birth, it may occur that you heal slower. Sometimes the guidance with breastfeeding may require more attention.

When your maternity nurse identifies such a situation, she will relay this to your midwife. Your midwife may then decide to sign off on more hours of maternity care. Besides extra hours within the standard eight day period she may also sign off on prolonging the maternity care for an extra two days. Then you will receive maternity care for ten days, starting on the day you gave birth.

Amount of maternity care for a home birth

If you choose for a home birth or you unexpectedly give birth at home, the hours spent caring during birth will not lessen the hours of maternity care.

Extra hours in case of a home birth

If you choose for a home birth the midwife will indicate, during labour, when to call on the maternity nurse for assistance. The maternity nurses of BabyCare maternity care are available 24 hours a day, so they can attend you within a set time after calling on them. The midwife will call upon the maternity nurse when she deems it necessary. The maternity nurse will usually arrive when you are busy dealing with contractions, or even when the time has come to push.

If you would rather have your maternity nurse present form the start of labour, she may be called upon sooner. It is important to mention this during the intake and to discuss it with your midwife, such that the midwife knows to call early on in labour for the assistance of the maternity nurse. These extra hours, for assistance during birth, will be paid by your health insurance. Keep in mind that you may have to pay your health insurances statutory personal contribution.

Amount of maternity care for a hospital birth

If you give birth in the hospital and you stay more than one night, the hospital days will be subtracted form your maternity care days. The amount of hospital days is then from the day of birth until the day you are discharged. On the day of discharge you retain the right to the allotted hours of maternity care.

Amount of maternity care during hospital admittance

If you and your child spend the first ten days after birth in the hospital, the regular maternity care is cancelled. When you and your child then return after the tenth day, you may still receive incubator after-care or delayed maternity care.

Incubator after-care or delayed maternity care is strictly part of supplemental insurance packages. Consult your insurance policy before requesting incubator after-care or delayed maternity care.

If you only have basic health insurance, incubator after-care or delayed maternity care will not be paid for by your insurance. If you would however still wish to receive maternity care then you may, but for a private fee.*

If your child remains in the hospital, but you are allowed to leave before the ten day period after giving birth then you are entitled to maternity care, called:  ‘mother care when your baby is hospitalized’. In this case consult with the office in your area what sort of care you require. Then we will adjust our care to your wishes.

Extra maternity care hours

Some additional health care insurance packages provide extra maternity care hours. These extra maternity care hours are seen as additional hours to what was agreed upon during the intake interview. To see whether you are entitled to luxury maternity care you may consult your policy conditions or call your insurance company. If you plan to implement your right for additional care, please let us know upon application. This will allow us to take this in account in our planning.
If the luxury of additional care is not part of your health care package, but you would still like to receive extra care for you and your family? Then it is possible to purchase extra hours for a private fee.*

Maternity Care Abroad

Do you live outside of The Netherlands, but still want to make use of the maternity care from BabyCare? This is possible!

We regularly receive requests for maternity care abroad. In these cases, a maternity nurse will be requested to make herself available to you. The fees for care abroad differ from the standard fees for maternity care in The Netherlands. Upon request, we will provide you with an estimated fee for this service.

*: The various private fees can be requested at our head office in Bussum or via our contact page