Dutch not too posh to push, but rely on help 1st week

AMSTERDAM: When I discovered I was expecting a baby during my posting to the Netherlands last year, I spent much of my pregnancy trying to work out how to avoid a traditional Dutch birth - at home and with no pain relief.

But since the arrival of my bouncing baby son, I have become a convert to at least one aspect of the Dutch health system - home care for a week after birth by a maternity nurse who does everything from nappy-changing to cleaning and cooking.

The Dutch philosophy is that childbirth is a natural physical process that should not be medicalized unless there are complications, and should primarily be handled by midwives at home rather than by doctors in a hospital.