Sexual health information and care
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If you are looking for care and information about sexuality, e.g. about safe sex, an unwanted pregnancy or about STIs. Read here about care and information around sexuality in the Netherlands.
Sexual health is about your body and your feelings
Sexual health is every person having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences and feeling good about it. Sexual health has to do with your body and your emotions when it comes to sexuality. It deals with a lot of topics. For example, about:
Safe sex.
Getting pregnant and being pregnant in a way that is comfortable for you.
Feeling emotionally well in a relationship.
Understanding how sex works and consenting to sex.
Sexual care and information for transgender people.
This article explores the topics that have the most questions regarding sexuality: safe sex,
Here is what you can do to have safe sex
Do you want to avoid getting STIs, getting someone pregnant or getting pregnant yourself? Then you should always have safe sex. Safe sex means that you use means before or during sex that will keep you from getting pregnant and contracting an STI.
Safe sex is sex that makes you feel good and prevents you from getting or making someone pregnant unintentionally. And that you avoid getting sexually transmitted infections (STIs). STIs are infectious diseases that you can give to someone else if you have unprotected sex. Well-known STIs are chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital warts, genital herpes, syphilis and HIV.
You can do the following to feel safe during sex:
Do not do things you do not want to do and do things you do want.
Ask your partner if they want to have sex.
Discuss with your partner what you will do together to prevent pregnancy and/or STIs.
If you feel uncomfortable during sex, tell your partner and stop.
Find out what else you need to know in the following situations:
Options after unprotected sex
Here is what you can do to prevent STIs
Preventing pregnancy
Here is what you can do if you have an unwanted pregnancy
An unwanted pregnancy is a pregnancy you do not want. You can have several reasons for not wanting to be pregnant. For example, because as a woman you are made pregnant by someone you do not want to be pregnant by, because the pregnancy is not planned or because you do not have the capacity to raise a child.
If you have an unwanted pregnancy, you can see your general practitioner. The GP can inform you about choices such as pregnancy, adoption and abortion. And refer you to the care you need, such as a gynecologist, adoption agency or pregnancy clinic. The GP cannot force you into a decision and is there to help you and provide information.
Abortion is legal in the Netherlands and safe. After an abortion, you can still get pregnant again and the chance of problems after treatment is very small. According to Dutch law, you may terminate your pregnancy up to 24 weeks, that is, until the foetus could survive outside your body. In practice, doctors will help you up to 22 weeks. Free emotional help is also available if you decide to terminate the pregnancy. There are then people who can help you emotionally process the abortion.
Since 1 January 2025, you can also arrange abortion through your GP. The general practitioner prescribes medication that terminates the pregnancy (abortion pill). You can pick these up at the pharmacy. This can be done up to 9 weeks of pregnancy. Not all GPs perform abortions. Ask about this at your doctor's office. If you are more than 9 weeks pregnant, you cannot have an abortion at a general practitioner's office. However, you can at an abortion clinic or the hospital. For the hospital, you need a referral from your GP. This is not necessary for an abortion clinic.
Do you live or work in the Netherlands? Then the treatment will cost you nothing. An abortion at an abortion clinic or at your family doctor is paid for by the government (via subsidy). Your health insurance company reimburses an abortion in a hospital.