Expectant parents will receive a hefty bill if they cancel antenatal maternity care, according to a roundup by NOS. These “fines” can reach €275, even if you cancel early in the pregnancy.

Due to the shortage of maternity assistants, many parents sign up with multiple organizations in the hope of receiving maximum care. It is not always clear that online registration is instant registration. After two weeks, the expecting parents are automatically bound by the contract, meaning they pay a penalty if they want to cancel maternity care.

Leckie* was still studying when it turned out she was pregnant. “The midwives and those around me insisted that I had to register quickly for maternity care because of the crowding. So I registered with four different organizations after 13 weeks of pregnancy, hoping that there would be a place somewhere.”

To her surprise, two weeks later she received an email informing her that her registration with maternity care organization Naviva had become final. “It turned out that I had entered into a contract, and it was not an online registration without obligation. This meant that I had to pay 150 euros in cancellation costs, even though there was no advance.”

Meanwhile, Leckie has already found maternity care elsewhere. She soon decided to contact other maternity care organizations she had registered with. “Fortunately, after a lot of pleading, they turned out to be more sympathetic than Naviva. They reduced the amount to 15 euros and 37 euros. So, it seems that it is not usual to charge that much money.”

Naviva said in its response that they are charging costs “to discourage dual registration with us and other maternity care organizations.” The company says it will reserve capacity for those dually registered households and direct others to a waiting list.

“This could not have been the intention for this to happen, as others have signed up in multiple places,” a company spokesperson says. Naviva also says it has “extensive leniency arrangements.” The full response from Maternity Care can be read here.

Adrienne Salcau found this leniency arrangement disappointing. She registered with all types of maternity care organizations, with a specific request for an English-speaking maternity carer. “Some people called me saying they didn’t have room,” Salkow says. “Other agencies, like Naviva, didn’t make any noise at all.”

Eventually, she registered with a maternity care organization that said it had someone who spoke English. When she later wanted to cancel Naviva at 16 weeks of pregnancy, she also had to pay €150 in cancellation costs.

“Somewhere at the bottom of a Dutch email, which I couldn’t read, there was a message saying cancellation costs were included. Whereas when I registered I had written that I only spoke English. They did nothing for me after I registered, but would charge costs “I cried because of that.”

Something similar happened to Arjan Gruen and his wife V de Kramvogel. They overlooked the email after registering. “Embarrassing,” Gruen says. “But it is also strange that the agreement entered into force automatically without our explicit consent.”

They also had to pay 75 euros. “When we refused, they said they would contact a collection agency. We thought that was harsh.” Green eventually offered to pay half and De Kraamvogel agreed.

But the taste is bitter. “They are clearly taking advantage of the situation and want to take advantage of people who don’t care about the small details,” Gruen says. De Kraamvogel was asked to respond, but the company did not respond to NOS’s questions.

Trade organization Bo Geboortezorg also attributes the cancellation costs to a significant shortage of maternity care. “More and more parents are walking around and registering with multiple agencies,” says director Peter Beaudoin. “If they then cancel maternity care, the organization can no longer declare the costs incurred to insurance.”

However, he describes the amounts required as “significant,” and that too compared to the work done so far. “It’s intended to deter parents,” Beaudoin says. “But we never like it to be a surprise. This has to be communicated clearly.”

The trade organization is working to find a solution. “We’re looking at whether health insurers can notify in advance if someone has already registered somewhere, rather than reporting it later,” Beaudoin says. “Because in the end no one benefits from all those cancellations.”

*Lieke is not the real name of the interviewee. Her full name and contact details are known to the editors.