Een Iets Duurzamer Kraampakket

Giving birth in The Netherlands is totally different than in Colombia, where I am from. Starting with the fact that the pregnancy gets followed by a midwife, instead of a doctor. Another new thing for me is ‘kraamzorg’. A kraamzorg carer is a person that helps the midwife during the labor. After the baby is born, she will keep on visiting your house for a week to look after you and your baby and to teach you and your partner how to care for your newborn. With kraamzorg also comes a ‘kraampakket’. I needed to make sure that I would receive a kraampakket before the day of birth. A kraampakket is a maternity package that contains all the necessary products that the midwife and assistant will use when they take care of the mother and baby during delivery, birth and the first week after that. It is very common here in The Netherlands to give birth at home, and therefore the insurance gives you all the products of the kraampakket. You will need this in case you give birth at home.

Depending on which insurance you have, you will get the maternity package for free. Lucky for me, I didn’t get it for free. I say lucky because when I checked what the package contains, most of the products from the insurance are not eco-friendly or organic. After doing some research, I decided to gather all the products myself so they would be a little bit more natural and organic. Next to the kraampakket I added some extra products for the baby that I will need. Those things are not necessarily for the giving birth process, but to use afterward. Here are the products I gathered:

This package contains:

Sanitary pads from the brand Yoni made of 100% organic cotton. It has no plastics or perfumes.
Cotton pads made of 100% organic cotton.
Large mats made of 100% ecological filling and they are biodegradable. These mats are to protect the matress before and after giving birth.
Belly button lace made of 100% cotton from the brand Nobamed. This lace is an alternative to the plastic navel clip.
Sterile wound compresses from the brand Nobamed.
Washable post-partum slips from the brand Carriwell. These are to ensure that all the bandage down there does not shift and can be hygienically worn.
Diaper cream, nurturing cream and milky bad oil from the brand Naif. Naïf skincare products are vegan, cruelty-free and made from natural oils.
Organic cold-pressed shea butter from the brand Zoya Goes Pretty. This product is to prevent cracked nipples.
Washing nuts and liquid from Seepje. This detergent is made from nuts that contain a natural form of soap called saponin. The natural soap gets released with the contact of water. Seepje is hypoallergenic and chemical free. The liquid version of Seepje is made from powdered nuts. The packaging is made from old milk bottles from England.
Organic alcohol.
Organic healing wool from the brand Popolini. This wool is to repair damaged skin for the baby and the mother.
Organic and chemical-free diapers and wipes from LILLYDOO. These products are chemical-free. The wipes are compostable. (Note: I am planning to use disposable diapers during the first days or weeks. After that I will use washable cloth diapers.)
Organic and fairtrade baby castille soap and liquid soap from the brand Dr. Bronner via biggreensmile.com. These soaps are made from extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, hemp oil and pure essential oils. There are no perfumes or other additives so that’s good for sensitive skin.