New mothers in socially and economically deprived areas are not always getting the maternity care they are entitled to, the health inspectorate has said in a report published on Tuesday.

Several large maternity organisations are no longer providing even the legal minimum of 24 hours of care following a birth, the inspectors say. Maternity care in the Netherlands is carried out by commercial organisations.

“We see that organisations are excluding certain postcodes, and don’t want to be active there for some reason or another. Often, these are areas with people in vulnerable situations, ” chief health inspector Janet Helder told current affairs programme Nieuwsuur.

According to Koen Jansen from the maternity care umbrella organisation BO, some companies do avoid certain areas. However, he said, it is up to health insurers to do something about it.

Parking problems, lack of travel allowances and lack of staff may exacerbate the problem, Jansen said.

Cost may be another factor. While maternity care is largely covered by the basic health insurance package, some new parents go without because they cannot afford the €5.40 an hour they have to pay from their own pocket. Others prefer to rely on help from family.

According to research, newborns and mothers who have not been monitored by maternity care workers in the first few days of life are more likely to experience medical problems.

In Utrecht, the problems started when two big maternity care organisations, which had been taken over by private equity firms, stopped providing services, council official Eelco Eerenberg said.

“This is not the sort of field where we need commercial healthcare because it means the companies are looking for areas where they can make the most money,” he said. “Maybe they should also pay staff more for working with families who need more help.”

Nieuwsuur said the problem is not limited to Utrecht. The inspectorate, which did not investigate how widespread the problem is, has said it will follow up Nieuwsuur’s findings.