Week-by-Week Pregnancy Timeline in the Netherlands
What to arrange and when during pregnancy in the Netherlands. From finding your verloskundige and booking the NIPT scan, to registering for kraamzorg and packing your ziekenhuistas.
Key Dutch Milestones
- Weeks 4–8: Contact a local verloskundigenpraktijk (midwife practice) and start taking folic acid and vitamin D.
- Weeks 10–12: Intake appointment, termijn echo (dating ultrasound), and optional NIPT screening.
- Weeks 12–16: Urgent: Register for kraamzorg (postpartum maternity care) and request your kraampakket from your health insurance.
- Weeks 13 & 20: Anomaly ultrasounds (13-weken echo and 20-weken echo).
- Weeks 24–28: Notify your employer about zwangerschapsverlof (maternity leave) and acknowledge paternity/co-parentage at the gemeente.
- Weeks 30–34: Create your Dutch birth plan, choose home birth vs hospital (poliklinisch), and attend kraamzorg intake.
- Weeks 35–37: Pack your ziekenhuistas (hospital bag) and ensure your kraampakket and bed raisers (klossen) are ready.