Kraamzorg service

In Holland, as part of the Dutch Social System, everyone is entitled to Kraamzorg service upon having a baby. Kraamzorg in Dutch means maternity care. Insurance will pay to have a maternity nurse come to a new family's home to help them, typically for 6 hours a day over the course of 8 days. The service not only helps new parents get acclimated, but it frees up space in the hospitals and lowers the cost of care for hospitals and insurance companies. The nice thing about this service is you have a nurse that helps answer questions about breastfeeding, healing, the baby's health, etc. and not only that, they also do light housework, like cleaning the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry all in the safety and comfort of your own home! I sound like an advertisement- but it's a fantastic service. At first when our nurse came through the door, I didn't know what to think. She was typically Dutch, very tall with long brown hair and a very calm demeanor. She obviously just had a smoke outside and didn't look any older than me, so I wondered abour her experience. Her English was pretty decent as well, and we quickly learned she had spent time growing up in the UK so it wasn't an issue. Her name was Dineke (Deen-a-ka) and that took the longest time for me to get down. Bryce seemed to get it right away with no issue, but I was constantly calling her different names like Dan-ika, Din-ika, sometimes just Dee something. It was awful. Thank God she had a great sense of humor so we laughed a lot. She had trouble with Bryce's name and would call him Brian, Brant, Brandon.. it was pretty funny. She took to Carolyn right away and gave Bryce and I much needed rest and advice. I never thought that having a little baby could be so overwhelming! The whole first week while the nurse was here I was suffering from night sweats and nightmares everytime I went to lay down, so it made it much more difficult to feel caught up. I'm happy though that we could learn what we needed to in the comfort of home and also receive doctor visits at home as well to check on the baby and my own healing. Wish they had this in the States!