There have been midwives since the dawn of history, and the profession has often been the subject of controversy. In the nineteenth century, for example, doctors (members of a highly organized profession, and still predominantly male at this time) considered that midwives did not have the knowledge – and physical strength – to manage anything but routine deliveries.
Nevertheless, midwives became highly professionalized during the past century, especially during the final few decades of that century. There have been schools of midwifery since the seventeenth century. Groningen was the first city in the Netherlands to have a midwifery school, which was founded in the seventeenth century, and the National College of Midwifery in Amsterdam opened its doors in 1861. If offered a two-year training course, aimed at improving the quality of the profession and dealing with the shortage of midwives.
1920
Doctors had long opposed an extension of the services midwives were allowed to provide, but in 1920 the length of the midwifery training course was increased from two to three years to resolve the problem of the high pressure on students and the long hours they were forced to study every day. The range of activities that midwives were authorized to perform was gradually extended after that. On the other hand, the midwifery school in Groningen was shut down due to financial cuts.
1951
In 1951 midwives were authorized to take responsibility for management of the entire pregnancy, to suture simple ruptures and to perform deliveries without supervision from the eighteenth week of pregnancy. They had to inform the client’s GP after such an event, and send a medical dossier to the Healthcare Inspectorate.
1957
In 1951 midwives were authorized to take responsibility for management of the entire pregnancy, to suture simple ruptures and to perform deliveries without supervision from the eighteenth week of pregnancy. They had to inform the client’s GP after such an event, and send a medical dossier to the Healthcare Inspectorate.
1970
The obligation on midwifery students to live in during their studies was discontinued, as was the compulsory wearing of a nurse’s uniform. The cooperation with other healthcare personnel was extended.
1974
Midwifery training was recognized as a form of higher vocational training (HBO) and a senior general secondary education (HAVO) diploma was required as entrance qualification instead of the previous junior general secondary education (MAVO) diploma.
1976
The National College of Midwifery in Amsterdam moved from Camperstraat to the present location in Slotervaart Hospital.
1994
The length of the training course is extended from three to four years.
2000
A large number of midwives mounted a demonstration at the Binnenhof (the Dutch parliamentary complex in The Hague) on 30 March to highlight their situation: excessive working pressure due to a shortage of midwives, excessively low remuneration and too many deliveries per practice.
2001
Els Borst, the then Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, allowed Dutch midwifery training establishments to take on more students to deal with the current shortage of midwives. The Catharina Schrader school of midwifery was opened in Groningen. This training establishment was named after Catharina Schrader (1656 – 1746), a midwife who successfully delivered thousands of babies in the Frisian town of Dokkum and environs in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
2004
The midwifery schools in Amsterdam and Groningen introduced a new, competence-oriented curriculum aimed at making the training programme more academic. The name Midwifery Training College Foundation (Stichting Kweekschool voor Vroedvrouwen) was changed to Amsterdam Midwifery Academy (Verloskunde Academie Amsterdam, VAA). The Groningen Midwifery Academy (VAG) moved to its current site in Dirk Huizingastraat.
2008
With effect from September, the midwifery training courses are no longer funded by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport but by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. From now on, the courses are registered in the Central Register of Higher Education Programmes (Centraal Register Opleidingen Hoger Onderwijs). Since 2010, the midwifery training programmes form an interfaculty together with Hogeschool INHolland and VUmc.
2010
The Amsterdam Midwifery Academy (VAA) and the Groningen Midwifery Academy are combined to form AVAG (the Amsterdam/Groningen Midwifery Academy).
2011
AVAG celebrated 150 years of existence.
2014
The new curriculum is introduced.
2015
The location in Amsterdam moves from the Louwesweg to their new location at the Vlaardingenlaan.
