I have two aquaintances Taffy who went back to the US to have their bubs from the Netherlands because they felt the system was barbaric - the women aren't offered pain relief routinely at home and depending on whether they have midwife or Ob care in hospital they might not be offered it then either. A German friend told me yesterday that as far as she knows the model is basically the same - epidural is still only offered for surgery, never for vaginal birth. THey use local for episiotomies, but they don't give the mother systemic pain relief for the normal sensations of labour. THe thing is though, Dutch women don't EXPECT pain relief, they don't think they'll need it, they aren't brought up to think it is unbearably painful and so for them it isn't. I think it's so interesting how perceptions of things are so deeply culturally routed.

The obstetricians were silenced as it was shown that much of their research supporting hospital births was of very poor quality, when it was clear that the system of screening and birth in Holland was in fact outstanding.
WOW! The same could definitely be said of the studies our governments act on in maternity and obstetrics, but these are not discredited - why?

I just find the whole Dutch system is so HONEST. Women aren't told they won't be able to cope with pain or birth, women aren't forced to have uneccesary medical involvement. In America, especially because of medical insurance paying for everything, Obs push every possible intervention onto women because of money - it is TRUE that all drugs given in labour increase risk to baby and mother and the Dutch system makes everyone properly aware of this and reminds them if they ask (when i homebirthed i had MORPHINE in my fridge - imagine having to go to see an Ob just to have a shot of pethidine!) but it's not talked about because we don't want to make people feel bad for using drugs during labour. But that is so unfair because we basically mislead women - we tell them their whole lives they WILL need pain relief and then when they predictably do we gloss over the risks and so often it's the women and their families who are left picking up the pieces of having had a traumatic birth or injured mum or baby.

In the netherlands it seems birth is treated as a private family event which a trained person helps with and not a medical event family members can witness.

BG the UK homebirth rate is 1% - a far cry from the Dutch 40%! And to be in that 1% you do have to fight for it. I wouldn't be too worried next time, because i've already homebirthed once and have "proved" myself in their eyes, but for a first-time mum having a first-time homebirth it was pretty stressful having to "convince" strangers i could do it. Ridiculous.

I like the idea of having the option of having a GP do the birth at home too - birth is so normalised. It's medical but like a cold might be, only minor medical assistance might be needed, it will take care of itself. Matrernal and infant mortality rates are SO low in the Netherlands, way lower than Aus and the UK and way WAY lower than in America (where the rate ROSE last year!). HOwever this system seems, it works great!

Bx