Maternity care if you don't (yet) have Dutch health insurance

The main rule: living or working in the Netherlands means an insurance obligation

Everyone who lives or works in the Netherlands is in principle obliged to take out Dutch basic health insurance. You generally have to arrange that insurance within a few months of that obligation arising; the CAK (the Dutch Central Administration Office) monitors this and, if you don't, first sends a warning and eventually a fine. Once you're insured, maternity care simply falls under basic insurance, just as it does for everyone else (see What does maternity care cost and what's covered?).

Just arrived in the Netherlands to live or work?

Then arrange your health insurance as soon as possible — not only as the due date approaches. Ask your employer or the insurer from which date you're insured, so you know where you stand before maternity care is needed. If you're unsure whether the insurance obligation applies to you, contact the CAK or a health insurer; that's the only place where you'll get a conclusive answer.

What if you aren't insured (yet)?

There is a safety net. Through the national subsidy scheme for medically necessary care for uninsured people, care providers — including midwives and maternity care providers — can claim the costs of care they've provided to someone who isn't insured and can't pay the bill. Specifically for pregnancy and childbirth, those costs are reimbursed in full.

Two things are important to know here:

• This is a scheme for the care provider, not something you apply for yourself. So you don't apply for a subsidy; you ask the provider whether they work with this scheme.
• Not every provider makes use of it. Ask about this explicitly at first contact, so you know in advance where you stand and don't face an unexpected bill afterwards.

Temporarily in the Netherlands with foreign insurance?

If you're staying in the Netherlands temporarily and have foreign (for example European) insurance or an international expat policy, ask your own insurer whether maternity care in the Netherlands is covered, and whether the Dutch provider can bill them directly or whether you have to pay up front yourself. Arrange this before the birth — sorting it out afterwards is considerably harder.

What do you do concretely?

• Check whether the insurance obligation applies to you (CAK or a health insurer).
• If it does: arrange the insurance as soon as possible.
• Discuss your situation early with your midwife and maternity care provider — they encounter this more often than you'd think and can think along with you.
• If you have a foreign policy: ask in advance what's covered and how billing works.

In short

• Living or working in the Netherlands in principle means mandatory Dutch basic insurance; with that, maternity care simply falls under standard coverage.
• If you aren't insured (yet), there's a national subsidy scheme allowing care providers to claim medically necessary care — in full for pregnancy and childbirth.
• That scheme runs through the care provider, not through you: ask the provider whether they use it.
• With a foreign policy: check coverage and billing in advance, not afterwards.
• This article gives general information; for your specific situation, the CAK or your health insurer is the right source.

Also read Maternity care and your insurance policy: what to check before the baby arrives?