Postnatal help in Groningen

A bekkenfysiotherapeut is a physiotherapist with a recognised specialisation in the pelvic floor: the muscles that support your bladder, bowel and uterus. After birth those muscles are stretched, sometimes damaged, and often out of balance with your abdomen and breathing. A pelvic physiotherapist works out what is actually happening and trains specifically for it — not with generic exercises, but with exercises matched to what your pelvic floor is doing now.

An IBCLC lactation consultant specialises in breastfeeding and has passed the international IBCLC examination. That is different from a breastfeeding counsellor or a volunteer from a breastfeeding organisation — both can be valuable, but IBCLC is the only internationally examined qualification, with recertification every five years. A lactation consultant looks at the whole picture: your baby’s anatomy, your breasts, feeding position, and anything medical that may be playing a part.

Kraamzorg is postnatal care in your own home during the first days after birth, and it is close to unique to the Netherlands. A trained maternity nurse (kraamverzorgende) checks you and your baby, helps with feeding, watches for complications and takes on part of the household. It is not a luxury service: in that first week the kraamverzorgende is very often the first person to notice that something is wrong — with you or with your baby — and the one who calls in the midwife. If you have moved here from a country without this system, it is worth knowing it is standard, insured, and yours by right.

A diëtist is an allied health professional trained to use nutrition in recovery and illness. After birth the focus is mostly on replenishing: iron after blood loss, vitamin B12 and D, iodine and calcium while breastfeeding, and enough protein to repair tissue. "Diëtist" is a protected educational title in the Netherlands — a voedingscoach (nutrition coach) or orthomolecular therapist is something else entirely, and does not fall under the same training requirements, registration or reimbursement.

A perinatal psychologist treats mental health difficulties around pregnancy, birth and the period afterwards. It is a field in its own right: postnatal depression, anxiety and intrusive thoughts about your baby, and flashbacks to a birth that went differently than you hoped all need a different approach than the same symptoms outside this life stage. Roughly one in eight mothers experiences this. It does not resolve by itself, and it responds well to treatment.