VBAC Doula Amsterdam

Specialist support for birth after caesarean, for Dutch and expat families

Certified VBAC Doula CVD (TVL) — The VBAC Link certified doula in Amsterdam

Who Is This For?

There is a particular weight to preparing for a birth when the last one did not go the way you hoped.

You are carrying two things at once. There is this baby, this pregnancy, this body — and there is the memory of the last time, which has a habit of arriving uninvited at three in the morning. People around you may be encouraging, or they may be quietly wondering why you would not simply book another caesarean. You may not be sure yourself yet.

I want to say clearly, before anything else: you are allowed to want this. And you are allowed to change your mind.

This page is for you if:

You had a caesarean and are hoping for a vaginal birth this time
You are still deciding between a VBAC and a planned repeat caesarean
Your first birth was in another country and the Dutch system feels unfamiliar
You have been told you are "allowed to try" and want to understand what that actually means
You are carrying difficult memories from the first birth that have not been given room
You want someone in the room who knows this territory specifically

What Makes VBAC Different In The Netherlands

If you gave birth to your first baby elsewhere, the Dutch approach will surprise you in both directions.

The Netherlands is genuinely supportive of physiological birth. But a pregnancy after a caesarean is generally moved out of primary midwifery care and into the hospital under a gynaecologist — a different setting, different conversations, and a set of recommendations that may include continuous monitoring, an earlier induction discussion, or a suggestion to plan a repeat caesarean and the possibility to ask for your labor to be supported by a clinical midwife (klinische verloskundige).

None of that is unreasonable. It does mean you will be having more conversations, with more people, inside a system whose defaults were never explained to you — quite possibly in your second or third language, while carrying the memory of a birth that did not go to plan.

That is a great deal to hold alone. It is exactly where a doula who knows this particular road changes things.

What The Evidence Actually Says

Numbers help, when the conversation around you is emotional.

Internationally, 60–80% of women who plan a VBAC give birth vaginally. With one previous low transverse caesarean, the risk of uterine rupture is under 1%. These are the figures cited across mainstream obstetric guidance, and they are worth knowing before you walk into an appointment.

Your own picture will differ from the average. It depends on why the first caesarean happened, what your scar is, how long has passed between your previous cesarean and your expected due date, how this pregnancy is going, and what matters to you.

I will never tell you what to decide, and I am not a medical provider. What I can do is help you understand the evidence well enough to ask better questions — and to recognise the difference between a recommendation grounded in your situation and one grounded in protocol.

What Working With Me Looks And Feels Like

Unhurried, and yours.

We begin with time — real time — for the story of your first birth, if you would like to tell it. For many women this is the first occasion anyone has listened to the whole thing without rushing to reassure them. Often we go through your notes together, or if you whish I can help you go through your operation report, so that the first birth stops being a fog and becomes something you can see clearly.

From there we prepare for the conversations ahead: what to ask, when to ask it, and how to ask for time to think. We build a birth plan made for flexibility — including what you want if a caesarean becomes the right path. We work practically with position, movement, comfort and your partner's role, which matters enormously here.

And we work with the fear, if fear is present. It usually is. Sometimes because the previous experience felt disempowering, sometimes because for reasons you don't understand fully you become emotional every time you think about the possibility of having a repeat cesarean, sometimes just because it is tender to open up to the possibility of experiencing a vaginal birth after repeated or multiple cesaran (VBA2C).

What A VBAC Doula Actually Does

Before birth

Continuity, information, and preparation shaped around a previous caesarean rather than a first birth. Processing what happened last time. Understanding your options in the Dutch system, the special protocols for VBAC and the way interventions may work in supporting or making your TOLAC a challenge. Making sure your body is strong and your mind is steady. Preparing your partner. Planning your postpartum. We shape the support around your own needs and wishes, making sure you are able to have the right conversations with your providers, with or without me being present.

During birth

Continuous presence from early labour until after your baby is born. I do not leave at shift change, because I do not have one. Physical support: position, counter-pressure, water, rhythm, breath. A calm voice and a set of extra eyes to help you detect any signs of labor stalls or pain that might signal a uterine rupture, advocacy and support to ask the right questions and make sure you feel involved in the process.

After birth

A postpartum visit to talk through what happened while it is still fresh, and Ayurvedic postpartum care if you would like it — warmth, food, rest and touch for a body that has now done this twice.

And if the birth does not go the way you hoped, I stay. That is when this work matters most.

If It Becomes a Cesarean

Sometimes it does. That is not a failure of yours, or of the preparation, and I would rather say so plainly here than leave it unsaid.

A repeat caesarean can still be gentle, informed and yours — and I always take time with you and your partner during our sessions to explore this scenario, so that you have discussed a plan that allows for unhurried explanation, your partner beside you, skin to skin where possible, and a recovery that has been planned. We will have talked all of this through long before the day, so that if the road turns, you are not making decisions from nowhere. We cannot control birth, can support your birth choices, and this is a part I care about.

Why A VBAC Certified Doula

Any experienced birth doula can support a woman planning a VBAC. Specialist training means something more particular: the evidence, the risk conversations, the ways this preparation differs, and the emotional territory of a birth shadowed by the one before it.

I hold the Certified VBAC Doula (CVD) credential from The VBAC Link, and this shapes the way I move in this specific territory, with the possibility to have access to different resources and provide specific Childbirth Preparation for my clients. This has been one of the most significant and valuable trainings I attended to.

The Packages

VBAC support is included in all four of my birth doula packages — The Threshold, The Illuminated Threshold, The Continuum and The Continuum Plus — with the preparation shaped around your previous caesarean.

Which one suits you depends on how much preparation and postpartum care you would like alongside the birth itself.

→ See the full packages and what each includes

A Note On Pricing

All my work follows the Green Bottle Method — three tiers, chosen by you, with no income verification and no proving anything to anyone. Payment plans are available for every package.

Cost should not decide who gets continuous support in labour, and it should certainly not decide it for a woman who has already had one birth taken out of her hands.

→ Economic Justice Pricing

Support is offered across Amsterdam and the surrounding area.

If you are pregnant in Amsterdam and thinking about a birth after caesarean — whether you are certain, or nowhere near certain — I would love to have a conversation. There is nothing you need to have decided beforehand.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I have a VBAC in the Netherlands? Yes. A pregnancy after a caesarean is generally cared for in the hospital under a gynaecologist rather than by a primary midwife, and your options are discussed with you individually. Many women in the Netherlands plan and achieve a vaginal birth after caesarean.

How likely is a VBAC to succeed? Internationally, 60–80% of women who plan a VBAC give birth vaginally. Your own likelihood depends on why your first caesarean happened and how this pregnancy progresses — a question for your gynaecologist.

What is the risk of uterine rupture? With one previous low transverse caesarean, the risk is under 1%. It is the risk that shapes most of the recommendations you will hear, which is why it is worth understanding properly rather than vaguely.

Can I have a home birth or water birth after a caesarean here? This is decided case by case with your gynaecologist, as care after a caesarean usually takes place in hospital. Worth raising early rather than late.

I am still deciding between a VBAC and a repeat caesarean. Can I still work with you? Yes, and many women come to me exactly there. My role is not to steer you toward one outcome — it is to make sure the decision is genuinely yours.

When should I book? Most families book between 20 and 30 weeks. Earlier is welcome, particularly where there is a difficult first birth to work through.

Which package should I choose? If you are unsure, bring it to the intro call. It is usually clear within a few minutes of talking.