Welcome to the HMC Westeinde Obstetrics ward! In our birthing rooms, medical staff representing various medical specialties closely collaborate to help patients. HMC will continue to serve women who are giving birth, even during the coronavirus period.
HMC will continue to serve women who are giving birth, even during the coronavirus period. Normally, our information evenings are a vital tool to prepare expecting parents for the upcoming delivery. Unfortunately, we are currently unable to organise these information evenings due to social distancing rules. We will therefore summarise the most important aspects of giving birth at HMC for you below. You can also watch a video presenting you with a tour of our birthing rooms.
If you have any questions, you are of course welcome to consult your midwife or doctor at any time during your pregnancy check-ups. Doing so will give you all the confidence that you need heading into labour. Any special rules applicable during the coronavirus crisis are shown in boldface.
Welcome to the HMC Westeinde Obstetrics ward! In our birthing rooms, medical staff representing various medical specialties closely collaborate to help patients. You may encounter:
Our team
When you are giving birth, you will be assisted by a small group of health-care providers from the aforementioned categories. Not all of them will be with you at the same time. If you need them, however, they will be right here for you.
Low-risk deliveries are generally overseen by a midwife who works in association with a maternity nurse or a regular nurse. High-risk deliveries are overseen by a perinatologist or a gynaecologist, in association with a nurse. Our aim is to ensure that you have as few people around you as possible. You will only be referred to a different health-care provider if necessary.
If the door is closed when you arrive, please press the black button. Such buttons can be found both at the entrance to the hospital and inside the building. We will then open the door for you.
Our birthing rooms can be found on the twelfth floor, to the side of the red lift lobby. The lift lobbies with their various colours are clearly signposted. Please note: due to the coronavirus crisis, you must take the lift in the green lift lobby to the twelfth floor in all cases for the time being, even if the expecting mother is already in labour.
Entrance to the birthing rooms (red lift lobby)
If you called the unit for an emergency check-up while pregnant or after the delivery, you must come to the twelfth floor using the lift in the green lift lobby. You will find a triage room on the twelfth floor. A nurse and doctor will meet you in this room. This side of the building also has rooms where expecting mothers can be hospitalised either during their pregnancy or after giving birth.
Normally, the maternity ward is on the third floor, to the side of the green lift lobby. Mothers stay here after they have given birth (for instance, following a Caesarean section). However, while the coronavirus restrictions are in place, the rooms on the third floor will be inaccessible and you will stay on the twelfth floor instead.
Would you like to see what the birthing rooms look like and how to access them once you arrive at the hospital? If so, be sure to watch the video or check out the following page (only in Dutch).
You can prepare for the delivery of your baby in various ways:
One way to prepare for the delivery is by drawing up a birth plan, in which you outline your wishes and expectations with regard to labour as well as giving birth. It is very useful to discuss this plan with your health-care provider in advance. In this way, your midwife or obstetrician will be familiar with your wishes and needs, while you will know what services are offered at HMC. Inspect or download the birth plan that we have drawn up for you.
Your midwife may give you slightly different instructions on when to call her from your doctor or gynaecologist. As your own midwife, obstetrician or gynaecologist is the most familiar with your situation, trust their advice on when to call them. After all, every woman is different. Please call if you have any concerns!
In case of a low-risk pregnancy:
In case of a high-risk pregnancy:
Onset of labour
Labour can start in many different ways. The process generally begins with contractions at various levels of intensity. The contractions will initially be irregular and hardly painful. They will gradually start to come faster, become stronger and last longer. When your contractions become regular, your cervix will dilate. At this moment, please contact us!
Alternatively, your labour may begin when your water breaks. In this event, you will involuntarily lose amniotic fluid, either in one large rush or in a small trickle. You will subsequently continue to lose amniotic fluid until the baby is born. Once your water has broken, your child may be born at once, but the delivery may also be several hours away. Should you lose any water, please check its colour. If you think that your water has broken, please call your own midwife in case of a low-risk pregnancy or call the emergency number (+31 88 979 2104) if you have a high-risk pregnancy and have been supervised by a gynaecologist.
Once you are in labour, you will be able to stay at the hospital. You may also be admitted to hospital for other medical reasons. While you are giving birth, you will have a birthing room to yourself.
One of our birthing rooms
HMC Westeinde has fourteen birthing rooms. The rooms all look slightly different, but every room is equipped with the same equipment. Everything that is needed to look after mother and child is here. The bed on which you will give birth can be adjusted in several ways, meaning that you can give birth in just about any position. Every room comes with its own shower and toilet.
You can use several types of appliances in your room, without needing a reservation. For instance, we have the following appliances.
Birthing room No 2 (the only room with a built-in bathtub)
If your baby's delivery is supervised by a gynaecologist, your baby's heart rate will be monitored constantly. We have a cardiotocograph (CTG) on the premises to assist with this process. Generally, the CTG will allow you enough room to change position if you wish. If you need more room to move around, HMC Westeinde also has a wireless CTG that can be used. Since this device is waterproof, you can take it into the shower or bathtub if necessary.
CTG showing the foetal heart rate
If you need pain relief while giving birth, please do not hesitate to ask. Together, we will try and decide which type of analgesic is the most suited to your particular situation at that moment. When you discuss your upcoming delivery with your midwife or obstetrician, you will be provided with information on the various types of pain relief. You are allowed, but not obliged, to include your pain relief preferences in your birth plan. Below are a few of your pain relief options.
You can find more information on your options in the Pain relief during labour brochure.
As soon as your baby has been born, we will place the baby on your belly and either you or your partner will be able to cut the umbilical cord if you wish. We will also offer the baby its first meal at this time. If you wish to breastfeed your baby, we will help you position your baby in such a way that it can feed. We will help you assume a comfortable position. Should you plan on bottle-feeding your baby, you can do so while maintaining skin-on-skin contact with the baby. While you are at the hospital, we will provide you with infant formula, so there is no need to bring any of your own.
If you need any sutures, you will typically receive them immediately after the placenta has been expelled. The midwife or doctor will weigh your baby and check whether it is all right. Your baby will stay with you in the birthing room. You will receive assistance when you take a shower, or we will wash you in your bed, depending on your desires and your condition.
Many different medical situations can occur during labour and we are prepared for every single one of them. HMC Westeinde has medical specialists on duty 24/7, including a perinatologist, a gynaecologist, a paediatrician, an anaesthetist and a surgical team. The mother's or baby's condition sometimes requires a speedy end to the labour. HMC Westeinde has all the equipment and facilities necessary to hasten delivery. If yours is a high-risk delivery, responsibility will be transferred from your midwife to a gynaecologist.
Please find below a list of special procedures that may be performed during labour. We will only perform these procedures if they are a medical necessity.
After the delivery, women spend two to three hours inside the birthing room on average. If everything goes according to plan, you will be able to go home after a few hours or to the maternity hotel, even if it is in the middle of the night. In some cases, either the mother or the baby will have to stay in the hospital a little longer. If so, you will be transferred to the maternity ward or to the paediatric ward. Where possible, we will try to keep the parents and their baby in the same room. Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus restrictions, partners are currently not allowed to stay at the maternity ward.
When you go home, we will give you the following documents:
You must register your baby's birth with the municipal authorities within three working days after the birth. To do so, you can schedule an appointment online.
Please contact your postnatal care service before leaving the hospital. A maternity nurse working for a postnatal care service will spend several hours a day at your home in the first week after your baby's birth. They will perform check-ups of both mother and child as well as provide you with assistance and recommendations in the first week post-partum.
In the first ten days post-partum, the midwife will carry out the medical supervision of mothers and newborns who reside at home. She will visit you at home several times during the first week post-partum and can be consulted by phone if you have any concerns, either about your own condition or about your baby's condition. Generally, she will come and see you the day after you have returned home. If you had a high-risk delivery at the hospital, a nurse will contact your midwife as soon as you are ready to leave the hospital.
At present, midwives have to minimise the number of times that they visit new mothers at home due to the coronavirus restrictions. Your baby will have its neonatal heel prick at home, as usual.
HMC Westeinde has established the HMC Maternity Hotel in the Ibis Hotel near the hospital. If you wish, you and your partner can choose to stay at the hotel with your baby rather than going home. A maternity nurse is on hand 24/7 at the maternity hotel. For more information, see the HMC Maternity Hotel website.
https://www.haaglandenmc.nl/specialismen/ziektebeeld/pijnbestrijding-bij-bevalling
KNOV (Royal Dutch Organisation of Midwives)
NVOG (Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology)