‘ISO 9001 certificate ensures quality and stability’

Every year, several newborn babies are abandoned in the Netherlands. Stichting Beschermde Wieg (Protected Cradle Foundation) is a volunteer organization which helps pregnant women who avoid regular care by providing accessible preventive help and guidance to prevent babies from being abandoned or killed. The foundation wants to expand and decided to use the ISO 9001 quality standard as a blueprint for this. Policy officer Ingrid Meulenbelt tells more about it.

What does Stichting Beschermde Wieg do?

We aim to offer pregnant women who cannot or dare not rely on regular assistance with their pregnancy, childbirth or the situation that arises once they have given birth. This can be done anonymously if desired. Our clients are women who, for whatever reason, want to keep their pregnancy a secret. Our professional team assists these women by answering their questions and trying to help them make responsible decisions about their baby's future. We have eight branches spread throughout the Netherlands and a mobile room that can be used throughout the country.

Why did you choose to work according to ISO 9001?

In an organization like ours, it is of course very important to work carefully and in a structured way. Before we entered the certification process, we already had our organizational processes in order. But we knew we still could do better and to support our growth, we therefore opted for certification in accordance with the ISO 9001 standard.

Why did Stichting Beschermde Wieg team up with Kiwa for this?

Because we had no experience in setting up and implementing a quality system, we contacted an external consultant, Randy Loenen from Arbo Industries. After Arbo Industries had conducted an internal audit and a management review, it was time for the external audit. And for that, Randy Loenen advised us on Kiwa.

Can you tell us more about the certification process?

We first inventoried and recorded all existing processes and procedures. We have also analyzed all our legal obligations. We then started drawing up a quality manual and based on an action list we worked on the points of attention that were necessary to meet the ISO 9001 requirements.

Were there any shortcomings after the initial audit?

A few minor points of attention, which were easy to implement.

What does ISO 9001 certification mean for your organization?

We now have more insight into our procedures and, now that everything is properly recorded, these are easier to transfer within the organization. I think that this will allow us to improve our services even further, which naturally leads to more quality and stability for the people we help. The process was also very instructive and valuable for our employees and that it really stimulated our quality awareness. That is why I am confident that we will remain certified, we will stay alert!