Pain in the Netherlands

Do the Dutch like pain?

In the Netherlands, notably few women receive an epidural anaesthetic during labour. Doctors are currently debating whether the use of pain relief during childbirth should be widened, but many people reject the idea. Is it the Dutch ‘Calvinist national character’ that produces so much resistance to the idea of pain relief?

“You need the pain to become a good mother,” wrote one woman in one of many emotional letters sent to a newspaper on the topic of pain relief. A medical advisory board is proposing to alter the rules in the Netherlands on the use of epidural anaesthesia during childbirth. Now women only receive an epidural if the doctor thinks it’s necessary. The proposal is that patients should be provided with pain relief on demand.

Read the article: Radio Netherlands, 31 March 2008