Parenting
The Dutch maternity system is built on a simple idea: birth is healthy until proven otherwise. Independent midwives lead low-risk care, home birth is a normal choice, and after the baby arrives a kraamzorg maternity nurse comes to your home for days — cooking, teaching, watching, reassuring. It is not perfect, and the home birth rate has fallen, but as a model of humane, mother-centred care it remains one of the best examples in the world.
8 min read · Sept 2026
Parenting
Enemas before birth, caesareans without a medical reason, medication to stop milk, early formula and supply, and why night breastfeeding really is harder. What each practice is, why people choose it, and where the criticism deserves to be questioned.
14 min read · Aug 2026
Parenting
One pair of oversized merino men's sweatpants from John Merino in Amsterdam, worn from early pregnancy through a year of motherhood, worn into holes, and then repaired with a patch made from barely-worn baby trousers. A small story about circular clothing, repair, and what motherhood actually does to a body and a mind.
6 min read · Aug 2026
Parenting
Haemorrhoids after pregnancy and birth are common, temporary and rarely discussed. What they are, why pushing invites them, and the remedies worth keeping in the drawer — eucalyptus cream and the Dutch classic, Curanol.
9 min read · Aug 2026
Parenting
Breast milk changes by the hour, by the day, and by whether the baby is ill. Night milk is not day milk. Milk fed to a sick baby is not the milk from a week before. Here is what is actually happening, and why pumping cannot reproduce it.
9 min read · Aug 2026
Parenting
A personal review of breastfeeding clothing that does not rely on zippers, with a recommendation for Latte Mamiato in Antwerp.
5 min read · Aug 2026
Parenting
Foam, latex, springs and certificates — a plain reading of the evidence on what your child sleeps on for ten hours a night.
8 min read · Jul 2026
Parenting
What is Lotus Birth? Lotus birth—also called umbilical nonseverance —is the practice of leaving the umbilical cord uncut after childbirth, allowing the baby to remain attached to the placenta until the cord naturally…
7 min read · May 2025
Parenting
How I Found Out About Pain-Free Birth & 2 Short Birth Stories Everyone around me seemed convinced birth was going to feel like a marathon… in fire. I nodded politely, but in my head I was thinking: Surely there’s a…
5 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
Home birth—the decision to deliver a baby in the comfort of your own home—is experiencing a quiet resurgence. While still relatively uncommon in many countries, the Netherlands offers a shining example of how this…
4 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
🌸 Top Books for a Beautiful Birth & Empowered Postpartum Journey Whether you're preparing for your first birth or looking to enrich your knowledge for a more empowered experience, diving into the right resources can…
2 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
The most natural way for labor to start is when a woman’s body decides the time has come. A surge of hormones sets contractions in motion, pain is eased by the body’s own chemistry, and birth begins in its own rhythm.…
4 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
Childbirth is universal, but it hasn’t always looked the same. Across centuries, continents, and cultures, birth has evolved—shaped by beliefs, tools, traditions, and power. Here’s a brief walk through the history of…
4 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
Recently someone told me that since labour carries the meaning of hard work, birth must be a hard work. In English ... however, birth goes beyond language. So I was curious what does labour translate into in other…
3 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
A German-Engineer-Dad Compatible Guide to the Chaos of Tiny Humans Who Just Discovered They Have Opinions. Part IV of the Manual for Julian.
2 min read · Feb 2025
Parenting
The first night, the foggy days, milk, cramps, nappies, the witching hour and the first tooth — the newborn half of the manual, on its own.
7 min read · Feb 2025
Parenting
A German-Engineer-Dad-Friendly Field Guide to birth itself: contractions, the placenta, the water, the hospital, and the case for staying home.
8 min read · Feb 2025
Parenting
The edition that was promised: the nine months before the birth, written for a father who wants to know what is actually happening and what he can usefully do about it.
9 min read · Feb 2025
Parenting
💡 The Magic of Shared Resources As a start, I’d like to say—I’m a huge fan of the sharing economy in many cases. Sharing resources helps us consume less and build stronger communities , since trust and care are at the…
4 min read · Nov 2024
Parenting
How to Thrive (Not Just Survive) Pregnancy isn’t just about growing a tiny human — it’s about discovering your instincts, your power, and maybe even your sass. Yes, there will be nausea, aches, and mood swings. But it’s…
3 min read · Nov 2024
Parenting
👶 So What Happens After the Baby Comes? One big change: I connected deeply to my other mom friends. There is so much uniting in the experience. And no matter my attempts to keep connected to the non-mom friends too,…
3 min read · Oct 2024
Parenting
Potty Training: A Process, Not a Sprint Potty training is one of those developmental milestones that comes wrapped in expectation, trial, and the occasional puddle on the floor. Contrary to the modern Dutch trend of…
3 min read · Sept 2024
Parenting
Why Barefoot Shoes Are the Best Thing for Kids' Feet Picture this: a toddler sprinting across the grass, toes splaying, feet flexing, every step a perfect little dance of freedom. That’s what barefoot shoes were made…
3 min read · Sept 2024
Parenting
Why Time Abroad Sets the Scene for Creation A spermatozoid, an egg, and a frog walk into a resort… There’s a saying that surfaces with a wink and a cocktail in hand: “Babies are made best on vacation.” And if life is…
2 min read · Aug 2024
