For new parents dealing with the shock of childbirth and swimming in hormones, a newborn baby can feel like a little scary secret. There is an unexploded bomb in the manger. “We were completely unprepared,” Odilia says. Neither she nor her husband had ever changed a diaper, and she didn't know she needed to feed her baby every three hours. "When you're a new mother or father, you don't know anything," recalls Anouk, a new mother. "I'm a doctor," Zarah, also a new mother, says incredulously. "So you would expect me to know something, and I knew some things, but you actually don't know anything." Support from family and friends For Julia, an expat who lives far from her home, the traumatic birth left her physically and mentally unstable. "I was full of adrenaline for days," she recalls. The delicate process of caring for her premature son can easily become overwhelming.

The difference between these new parents and the rest of us is that they gave birth in the Netherlands. This meant help was readily available in the form of Kramsorg, an obstetric nurse. All women who give birth in the Netherlands, regardless of their circumstances, are covered by social security and have a legal right to support for the next week from the person giving birth.

These trained professionals visit your home daily (usually for 8 days) to provide advice, reassurance and practical help. Their role is different from that of midwives, who continue to monitor women and babies after giving birth in the Netherlands. Obstetric nurses provide midwives with up-to-date information on the health status and progress of the mother and child, and support parents as they cope with their new child.

If you've ever had a baby anywhere else in the world, it almost sounds like a miracle. Exactly what many of us want. I gave birth to my girlfriend's first child at age 27, and the next day I was discharged from the hospital to a top-floor apartment, far from my family, with no idea what to do. My baby had a basic check-up, but no one checked on me - even at the 6-week check-up (the GP only asked if I was okay and if they had considered birth control). - I answered "yes" to both).