Three quarters of deliveries in hospital

Last year, 184 thousand children were born in the Netherlands. Three quarters were hospital births, one quarter home births.

Proportion of home births

Share home births in decline

Most babies are born in hospital: on average, three quarters of all deliveries. One quarter are home births and 0.5 percent occurs elsewhere, e.g. in a birth hotel or in a car on the way to hospital. The home birth rate is high in the Netherlands relative to other countries, but declining: the share of home births was 38 percent in 1989/1991. 

Midwife-attended births by location, 2007/2009

Midwife-attended births in outpatient departments

Home births are often attended by midwives who also frequently assist during deliveries in outpatient departments. Approximately one third of hospital deliveries took place in outpatient departments in 2007/2009. In 70 percent of cases, a midwife was present to monitor the delivery process.

Early 2010, more than 2.5 thousand midwives were active in the Netherlands. Only 47 among them were men.

Marieke Houben–van Herten