Because new life on the way can be a cause of worry as well as a source of joy, birth houses provide future or new parents with extra guidance. Novo Vida, located right next to the Artesis campus in the Merksem district of Antwerp, offers advice and services to families during a pregnancy, as well as in the first weeks after the baby is born, with, for example, activities such as baby massages and breastfeeding.

A number of shareholders were asking for the discharge to be refused. Dexia’s financial troubles have left Belgian taxpayers with a huge burden from the €3 billion government bailout of 2008-2009 (and state guarantee of up to €90 billion), and it continues to lose money – €11.6 billion last year. And the government is facing the possibility of a new injection of capital being required to prevent the group from going bankrupt altogether.