This review is for the obstetrics department.
During the first half of my pregnancy I had all my prenatal check-ups here and was planning on delivering my baby in the birthing suites upstairs. However, having had a tour and receiving some information on the birthing suites and how they handle everything, I freaked out. I'm definitely not giving birth here anymore and have decided to go to another hospital. Sadly this means that I can no longer receive my prenatal check-ups here as the midwives don't come to other hospitals, which is understandable.
As for the midwives. Our first appointment was with Marije who was a huge disappointment. They ask you to fill out a form about your medical and medically relevant personal history before your first appointment. I'm a bit of an over achiever and answered with much more detail than I'm sure most women usually do. Even with this detailed list of all my medically relevant information she had to ask me basically every single question again. Every time, I referred to the form and my detailed answer there. The amount of detail seemed to confuse her. She confused me. We left the appointment wondering whether this woman even has a medical degree. I still wonder.
Our next appointment was to be with Jenna. Finally, someone who seemed medically competent. She reassured and soothed me immediately with her personality and her knowledge. We both love Jenna, she is friendly, professional and unlike Marije actually knows what she's talking about. We continued to have our prenatal check-ups with Jenna and she left us well informed of our options after voicing our concern about the birthing procedures at the hospital. We were sad to leave Jenna, but in the end there's no guarantee that she would have even been on call to deliver our baby when the time comes, so we've switched midwives and are now free to deliver at whatever hospital we like.
As for the ultrasounds, they where mostly fine. Almost all the ultrasound techs here are friendly, professional women. There was just one time when we did the twelve week scan for prenatal screening of birth defects that we had a woman who did not seem to understand her job very well. I can't remember her name, but she kept complaining that she couldn't get a clear image and implied that that was somehow my fault. I just lay there and thought "shut up and do your job woman!". It wasn't my fault, it was your fault, the previous two scans had been perfectly clear. You just don't know how to do your job.
Overall we were very happy here and would have stayed were it not for the policies on the second floor. Some things freaked me out, but I recommend you come for the tour and see for yourself before deciding whether or not to become a patient here. You might agree with the way they work, I just don't and am much happier to give birth at the nearby Diakonessenhuis were a water birth is even an option. Just look into these things as soon as you can, I wish I would have known sooner and wouldn't have had to switch midwives halfway through my pregnancy. read more
