The Solid Start (Kansrijke start) programme in the Netherlands creates new links between service providers – such as physicians, midwives, municipal officials and social workers – to address inequalities in post-birth health outcomes between mothers from different social and economic backgrounds.
Despite having a sophisticated health-care system and spending more on health care than do most countries in the world, by the early 2010s the Netherlands experienced some of the poorest perinatal-health outcomes in the European Union. For example, women living in the country’s low-income neighborhoods were up to four times more likely to die during childbirth than the Dutch average.
This case study looks at how Solid Start began as a partnership between three municipalities and university researchers, and scaled up into a programme that is on course to cover every municipality in the country with the support of the national government.
We commissioned this case study with Princeton University as part of a series that explores Urban95 implementation from a municipal leadership perspective.
Management case studies
Seizing Opportunities, Strengthening Synergies: Lima Frames a Collective Strategy to Advance Early Childhood Development, 2019–2021
Management case studies
Bridging the Divide: Coalition Building for Early Childhood Development in Istanbul, 2016–2020
Management case studies
Governing from a Child’s Perspective: Recife Works to Become Family Friendly, 2017–2019
Management case studies
City Hall Embraces Early Childhood Development: Reaching an Underserved Population in Tel Aviv, 2016-2019
This collection of seven case studies from Princeton University documents how municipalities have prioritised their youngest residents through Urban95.
