Maternity care and midwife care at home are part of the Dutch cultural. Yet, this form of maternity care is under pressure due to budget cuts and staff shortages. This publication demonstrates the invaluable work of two healthcare professionals in Amsterdam Zuidoost. From 2023 to 2025, artist Marieke Zwart accompanied them on home visits, capturing intimate caregiving activities in small rooms with pencil and camera. In her studio, she translated these into large drawings and collages.

she saw, i saw is the result of a two year drawing project, that focuses on the visibility of care in the Bijlmermeer, Amsterdam.

Research by Sharon Ratsma
Care in the Bijlmer: listening to mothers, the building of trust

What if care wasn't just about blood pressure, ultrasounds, and medical protocols, but about truly listening? About the stress of housing. About being unable to sleep because of worries. About making sure your children have food. That's the reality for pregnant women in Amsterdam Zuidoost. And it's precisely there, in that neighbourhood, that the research I've been passionately pursuing for several years, along with colleagues in a research group, is taking place: FOLLOW MOM. The name says it all (follow the mother!), and that's exactly what we do. Not just on paper or through statistics, but by actually following mothers: their experiences, their voices, their context.

you can read more here: PDF (Dutch only!)
→ more background information on: Prevention of Premature Birth

People involved in the project:

Marieke Zwart (artist)
mariekezwart.me

Joyce Aboage (practice owner Joy Kraamzorg)
joykraamzorg.nl + Parool article
or read more on the collaboration between Joy Kraamzorg and Sharon Ratsma for the study:FOLLOW MOM

Willemijn Speelman (owner midwife practice Bijlmermeer)
verloskundigenpraktijkbijlmermeer.nl

Dineke Blom (artist)
dinekeblom.nl

Menno Dudok van Heel (head of Kunstzaken AMC)
Art Collection AMC

Lynn Berger (writer)
Lynn's essay about the project can be read online at:De Correspondentor physically in the book.