English spoken course

With the pregnancy course Samen Bevallen, you can prepare for the birth of your baby together. Whether it’s your first or third child, Samen Bevallen offers you the information and practical tips for being well prepared for the delivery and to make the choices that suit you both. You will learn techniques that can be applied during childbirth. Think, for example, of breathing techniques or how you can help your partner to go through birth as relaxed as possible.

No. Samen Bevallen provides you with information, practical tips and concrete exercises to help you prepare for the delivery. All information and exercises explain what to expect, how you can help your partner and what your options are. Our pregnancy teachers do this from a broad knowledge base. Our teachers have had a two-year education and are periodically retrained to the latest (scientific) insights and developments.

Ofcourse! Perhaps you are a single mother, or the relationship with your partner is over or you already know that someone else will support you during the delivery? A mother, sister or friend can then participate with you in the course as a ‘birth partner’, so that she or he also learns everything and can support and coach you well during the delivery.

The course usually starts when you are between 24 and 30 weeks pregnant. If you are pregnant with twins or if there is a greater chance of preterm birth, you may start a little earlier. Groups are composed of couples who are due around the same time. It is useful to register early.

You can already register from 12 weeks of pregnancy. Although there is often a delay in registering until after the 20-week ultrasound, for some locations it is really necessary to register early because otherwise the groups are already full. If you are already more than 20 weeks, sign up as soon as possible! Sometimes someone drops out so that a spot becomes available again and sometimes an extra group is started. If you have already passed the 30th week of pregnancy, it sometimes becomes more difficult to schedule you, as the complete pregnancy course lasts 7 weeks. But you can always check and perhaps the mini course of 4 weeks or a private course is another option.

Vereniging Samen Bevallen believes it is important that atmosphere and safety can be created during a course. In someone’s home in a living room, this is often easier to arrange with a small group than in a lecture room with fluorescent lighting. If you are going to try out different poses and birthing positions (for example to cope with contractions), it can be useful to use materials like the ones you have at home. But there are also pregnancy teachers who have their own practice space in their own company or who, for example, offer the course in a beautiful, intimate space at a midwifery practice or school. Feel free to ask at the location of your choice where the course will be taught.

Vereniging Samen Bevallen trains its own pregnancy teachers in a training program of a minimum of one to a maximum of two years. Three exams must be passed and various internships must be completed before a pregnancy teacher is actually allowed to teach the Samen Bevallen course independently.

All pregnancy teachers are also mothers themselves, have given birth to at least one child and are therefore experts by experience. Samen Bevallen teachers often work in (para)medical professions or in the field of education, but not always. What they all have in common is a great passion for providing information to pregnant women and their partners in a nice and clear way.

After registration you will receive an invitation letter or email from your pregnancy teacher in which this is described. At some locations you do not need to bring anything for the course. You are only expected to wear comfortable clothing for floor exercises and especially for relaxation exercises. This does not mean that you have to wear sportswear. You just have to be able to move easily, so no tight-fitting clothes.

There are locations where you are asked if you would like to bring a mat or sleeping bag for the exercises on the floor. At some locations it is customary that the course fee is paid during the first lesson, but in most cases you have already transferred the course fee in advance.

Unfortunately, there is no straight answer to that. Some health insurers reimburse (part of) a pregnancy course and some do not. This depends on which health insurer and which supplementary insurance you have. To avoid disappointment afterwards, it is recommended to check with your health insurer in advance what you qualify for.

You can ask what requirements are set for the invoice or receipt. For example, some health insurers want to see their client’s date of birth or social security number on the bill or receipt. This information is very privacy-sensitive, so our pregnancy teachers will not request it from you by default. But if this is necessary for your health insurer, ofcourse she will put it on your bill or receipt.

Within Vereniging Samen Bevallen, margins have been agreed on within which the course prices must lie. The big cities are often at the top of these price agreements and in other areas of our country you can encounter a lower price. With the mini course there is sometimes a extra meeting included and sometimes not, that can also make a difference in the price that is charged.

If you understand Dutch reasonably well, it is often no problem to participate in a Dutch group course. A special list with words is also available in which the most important concepts and words from the course have been translated into English. If that is not enough and a translation is needed all the time, it may be better to go for a private course. Especially if your partner doesn’t speak or understand Dutch either

At many locations it is also possible to take an English Samen Bevallen course and there are also pregnancy teachers who offer courses in other languages. Inquire about this at the location near you.

If your pregnancy did not end well due to, for example, a miscarriage or premature birth, then that is already sad and stressful enough. Of course you can simply unsubscribe from the course and you will receive a full refund of the already paid course fee.

The same applies if, for example, you end up in hospital and would not be able to come to the course. However, there are often still possibilities to participate online, so be sure to check with your pregnancy teacher or the Central Application Point (CAP) of your course location.

For all other reasons why you cancel shortly before the start of the course (two to four weeks before the start), a fee of 50% of the course fee plus any registration fee will be charged. It is not certain that there is someone else on the waiting list who can take your place. From 2 weeks before the start of the course and during the course, the full course fee is due upon cancellation by the student.