Royal Dutch Organization of Midwives (KNOV)

What Royal Dutch Organization of Midwives (KNOV) does

The Royal Dutch Organization of Midwives (KNOV, Koninklijke Nederlandse Organisatie van Verloskundigen) is the Netherlands' official professional association for midwives, headquartered in Utrecht and founded in 1898. It operates as a nonprofit beroepsvereniging governed by and for its members, with a board (Bestuur) and General Member Meetings, representing first-line, clinical, and specialized midwives nationally. KNOV's role spans professional advocacy, quality assurance, guideline-setting, legal and contractual support, and continuing education for the midwifery workforce.

KNOV's core product surface is organized around a member-services platform rather than discrete SaaS offerings. The central products are the KNOV Academy, a learning management system for continuing education that in 2025 incorporated the Scholingsmatch training-matching tool; the Mijn KNOV member portal with an integrated helpdesk (MijnHelpdesk); the Tijdschrift De Verloskundige professional journal (operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary-like channel); the Kwaliteitsregister Verloskundigen, Versieregister, and Echoregister quality registers; and member-facing program areas covering financing and contracting, innovation and ICT (including the Blinkz digital data exchange and broader e-health agenda), legal services, quality and prevention, education and registers, and science. New channels added in 2026 include the "KNOV – de podcast" series.

Commercially, KNOV runs on a subscription/recurring membership-fee revenue model — members pay dues to access the Academy, guidelines, legal support, registers, and advocacy services. Distribution is direct: midwives join as individuals through the membership portal, with no disclosed channel partners, pricing tiers, or external sales motion. The organization maintains strategic alliances with FBZ for collective labor agreements, RIVM for population screening and vaccination programs, ZonMw for healthcare research projects, and the International Confederation of Midwives for international standards work.

Name

Royal Dutch Organization of Midwives (KNOV)

Legal name

Koninklijke Nederlandse Organisatie van Verloskundigen

Website

https://knov.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1898

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Royal Dutch Organization of Midwives (KNOV) is the official Netherlands professional association for midwives, providing continuing education, quality registers, guidelines, legal support, and policy advocacy to its dues-paying midwife members nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Utrecht

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: KNOV operates as a professional association funded by member dues. Midwives pay membership fees to access services including professional development, legal support, guidelines, and representation.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

KNOV is a professional membership association that provides Dutch midwives with continuing education, quality standards, clinical guidelines, legal support, and policy advocacy. It delivers these services through structured program areas (Financing & Contracting, Innovation & ICT, Legal, Quality & Prevention, Education & Registers, and Science) supported by digital platforms including the KNOV Academy, Mijn KNOV member portal, and quality registers.

Product overview

The Royal Dutch Organization of Midwives (KNOV) is a professional association for midwives that offers a unified membership services platform rather than a traditional software product. The core offerings include the KNOV Academy for professional development and continuing education, the Tijdschrift De Verloskundige professional journal, the Mijn KNOV member portal, and organized program areas covering financing, innovation & ICT (including e-health and digital data exchange), legal services, quality & prevention, education & registers, and science. The KNOV Academy serves as the central hub for training, incorporating the Scholingsmatch training matching tool. The KNOV-programma's structure organizes member services into six key areas: Bekostiging & Contractering (Financing & Contracting), Innovatie & ICT (Innovation & ICT including e-health and digital data exchange), Juridisch (Legal), Kwaliteit en Preventie (Quality and Prevention), Onderwijs & Registers (Education & Registers), and Wetenschap (Science).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• KNOV Academy Central online platform providing professional development, training, and continuing education (nascholing) for midwives, including courses, e-learning modules, and the Scholingsmatch training matching tool. Target audience: KNOV member midwives in the Netherlands.
• Tijdschrift De Verloskundige Professional journal of the KNOV publishing scientific articles, columns, clinical guidelines, and news for midwives in the Netherlands. Target audience: practicing Dutch midwives.
• Mijn KNOV (Member Portal) Online member portal providing access to resources, helpdesk support (MijnHelpdesk), guidelines, quality documents, and member services for KNOV members.
• KNOV-programma's Organized program areas covering financing & contracting, innovation & ICT (e-health and digital data exchange), legal services, quality & prevention, education & registers, and science — bundled member service programs.
• Scholingsmatch Training matching platform within the KNOV Academy that helps midwives find and register for appropriate courses and continuing education programs.
• Kwaliteitsregister Verloskundigen Quality register for midwives who meet professional requirements, making their registration visible to third parties and supporting quality assurance across the profession.
• KNOV de podcast Official KNOV podcast series providing professional updates, discussions, and information for midwife members.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• FBZ (Federatie van Beroepsorganisaties in de Zorg)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKNOV is a federation partner of FBZ, the Dutch healthcare workers' organization. FBZ negotiates collective labor agreements and social plans for KNOV members who are employed under FBZ collective agreements.
• RIVM (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKNOV collaborates with RIVM on population screening programs and vaccinations related to maternity care. This includes RIVM research projects and information sharing for pregnant women.
• ZonMwcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKNOV participates in ZonMw projects related to healthcare research and innovation in maternity care.
• ICM (International Confederation of Midwives)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKNOV participates in ICM as the Dutch member organization, contributing to international midwifery standards and collaborating on global initiatives including position papers on continuity of caregiver.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG): Royal Dutch professional association for physicians, structurally identical to KNOV as a membership-based beroepsvereniging with regulatory representation, quality registers, continuing education, and policy advocacy. Directly comparable operating model, scale, and revenue mix for Dutch healthcare.
• Netherlands' Nurses and Caregivers Association (V&VN): Largest Dutch healthcare professional association, representing nurses and caregivers with comparable membership dues, quality registers, and advocacy functions. Closest scale and operating-model peer within Dutch allied-health professions.
• Royal Dutch Pharmacists Association (KNMP): Royal Dutch professional association for pharmacists with parallel Koninklijke designation, membership funding, journal publication, and policy advocacy. Highly comparable in structure, member-facing digital services, and Dutch regulatory engagement.
• Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (NVOG): Dutch specialty association for obstetricians and gynaecologists operating in the same clinical domain as KNOV. Directly comparable membership-association structure serving the same maternity-care ecosystem, with overlapping policy influence.
• Dutch College of General Practitioners (NHG): Dutch professional association for GPs, similar in operating model (membership, guidelines, registers, continuing education). Comparable scale and member-funded structure within Dutch primary care, the same tier as midwifery.
• Royal College of Midwives (UK): UK midwifery professional association — the most direct international functional equivalent to KNOV. Same membership model, same trade union-adjacent role, and similar digital training and journal products.
• American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM): US professional association for midwives and birth professionals, offering membership, certification, continuing education, and advocacy — directly parallel service portfolio to KNOV, scaled to a much larger addressable population.
• Royal Dutch Society for Physical Therapy (KNGF): Royal Dutch allied-health professional association with comparable membership dues, quality registers, journals, and policy advocacy. Useful structural benchmark for member-funded Dutch healthcare associations of similar scale.

Broad incumbents

• International Confederation of Midwives (ICM): Global midwifery federation of which KNOV is a member. Operates across borders on standards, advocacy, and training — broader geographic scope but overlapping mission and member-base logic.

Others

• Federation of Healthcare Professional Organisations (FBZ): Dutch federation under which KNOV operates for collective labor agreements. Not a direct competitor but an ecosystem enabler — the umbrella body that negotiates employment terms for KNOV members and structurally shapes the Association's cost base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/knovverloskundigen
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/koninklijke-nederlandse-organisatie-van-verloskundigen-knov/?originalSubdomain=nl
• Xx.com/De_KNOV

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Royal Dutch Organization of Midwives (KNOV)