That's great news MB!

I was at the ASL place yesterday and I saw an ad for pre-natal classes there. I was wondering if they hold them outside of working hours - you know, to keep women in work as long as possible.

Wow MB - I'm so jealous of the availability of water births at your hospital!

Keep in mind, though, that they all say that they perform C sections only when absolutely necessary. They just differ from the rest of the world on what "absolutely necessary" means. If you can - try to get some stats on how often C sections are performed at the hospitals in your region.

Good idea Ramona. I guess no hospital is going to say we perform c-sections if a doctor has limited time etc. It's great that MB got a good feeling about the hospital though and that they put her mind at ease.

Here they're held at 4 pm - not exactly outside of working hours, but the prevailing wisdom here seems to be that during the last month and a half before birth the woman shouldn't work. Not saying I agree with that, but there it is....

Ramona, I'll have to ask for the stats, but it was funny, when they were talking about C-sections yesterday it was almost like she was telling us not to expect one - as if we would request it. The fact that they have water births is definitely a plus.

Well, I think the water birth thing is an excellent sign. I wish we had a public hospital in Rome where they did water births...

My childbirth classes are held at 6pm. Good thing since I still work full time at 7 months pregnant and plan to do so for one more month (gasp!) I think it's silly to stop working earlier than one month before the birth unless you have major health problems and/or need to go on bedrest. I'd rather have that extra maternity leave with my baby once she's born.

I guess the societal expectation to not work both while pregnant and after the baby is born is reason number 1064 why the birth rate is so low here.

Wow. I just read through everything and this thread is just heartbreaking. Some spots of encouragement, but gut wrenching overall. I teared up on my walk home thinking about Pamela's story. I am so glad that you were able to find a healing experience through your VBAC. My husband's family is from Amalfi and we spend our summers there, and I just can't imagine such a vibrant, friendly place having so little regard for the rights and health of women (an health care in general as it would seem... I hope your husband is recovering well Nicki).

It's ironic, because, here in Trento, society seems so much more cold and closed than in the south. People become cordial after they know you for a few months, but in general remain stand-off-ish. I guess the two (quality of care and societal warmth) are not related.

I am pro-natural birth, but putting a laboring woman on her back and then withholding pain relief is barbaric. While women are capable 88% of the time to deliver vaginally, this is in an active environment. Non hostile, supported by other women to help guide the mother (if necessary) through the process. The only reason women labor in bed is for the convenience of the doctor. I encourage women the world over (mostly in western cultures) to "put their foot down, and stamp with the other" to be allowed to let their bodies guide them through pregnancy and birth and draw from the wisdom of the mothers before them. (Unfortunately, in our society, the only wisdom our mothers have to give is often about how to deal with the veritable rape of our womanhood at the hands of medical science.)

Anyone here read Mothering Magazine?

Kanga - I know that things are waaay better in the North of Italy child-birth and health-care wise. I'm doing a childbirth class with a group of midwives here in Rome and yesterday they told us that they have colleagues in the North and how different the system is up there. Private rooms, encouragement of natural birth, birthing tubs, real support for breast feeding (as opposed to lip service which is what we get here!) Apparently, one colleague, an ostetrica in Bologna works for the public health system and will go to a woman's house to help with breastfeeding all under the public system! Can't imagine that happenning here unless you hire her privately under the table. Really makes me angry that we pay the same taxes as people in the North do and we get such shoddy service.

I have a few weeks to go before my due date but I've found a hospital here in Rome where women are allowed to move around during labour, they're not moved to another room during crowning and not forced to lie on their backs with legs in stirrups for delivery. You're also in a private birthing room during the delivery (although apparently sometimes they're all full and you end up labouring in a communal room) and they leave you in that room with your baby to 'bond" for a couple of hrs after the birth before sending you off to the recovery ward. And most importantly for me, the hospital turns a blind eye if you hire an ostetrica privately to attend the birth(this must be done under the table as it's not legal to hire a private ostetrica in a public hospital apparently). This is about as "crunchy" as it gets at a public hospital in Rome though.

Things which I'm dissapointed about are:
-visiting hours for the baby's father are only 3 hours a day (other people 2 hours a day)
-you share a room with either one or three other women
-bathroom and shower are down the hall
-if you have a caesarean, the baby's father is not allowed in the operating theatre with you
-41% caesarean rate - this is about as low as it goes in Rome though. The private clinics are waaay worse - some are even as high as 80% c-section.

Wow! The more I hear about how some hospitals work, the happier I am with mine. We took a tour of the labor rooms and the post-partum rooms and I was pleased with what I saw. Like I said before, they have the tub for water birth - you can choose to just go through labor and do delivery outside of the tub or do the whole thing in the tub. The ostetrica said it's all up to us and what we want to do. They have birthing balls and different chairs, a stereo, etc. to help during labor and we're to move around as we see fit. No flat on the back labor, they don't believe in it here.

Breast-feeding here is highly encouraged and someone will help you during the time you're in the hospital. After the birth, the baby is then given to you right away while they deal with all of the other details. Then you're put in the postpartum room for a few hours to bond with the baby and so they can monitor how both mother and baby are doing. Afterwards, the baby spends most of the day with the mother, being consigned to the nursery mostly overnight.

No private rooms, but the hospital is older and small, so I can deal with that. I'm more concerned about the ability of the staff and their methods than having a private room.

Believe it or not, some people want a c-section. I heard a woman the other day saying that if the baby didn't come soon she was going to request one. Of course, 3 days later, the nurse told us that she was finally in labor. But, I think sometimes the high caesarean rate in some areas is because the women request it. They do a whole lot during our classes to promote natural birth and discuss the whole process.

quote:

Apparently, one colleague, an ostetrica in Bologna works for the public health system and will go to a woman's house to help with breastfeeding all under the public system!

Yes, I had my ostetrica come to our house for this - she was absolutely brilliant. However, the care in the hospital was not good at all - no help with breastfeeding, about ten women per bathroom (down the hall) and no water births - so definitely not all good in the north!

C in Bo - well, I guess you can't make generalisations. It doesn't sound like the Milan hospitals are much good either.

I'm hiring an ostetrica privately. She and her colleagues seem just the right balance between sensible and crunchy to me and they work within a hospital setting which is what i wanted. In our classes, the midwives often say that Italy is around 20 years behind the rest of the developed world in childbirth practices - but there are some exceptions in the North of Italy. Some of the stuff they've told me about other public hospitals in Rome are just horrifying.

Although I'd of course prefer to give birth in Holland or Australia where making women lie on their backs during labour with their feet in stirrups is considered down-right medieval, I'm here and I have to accept that. I just decided what really mattered to me (relatively "low" caesarean rate, having an ostetrica who I know with me during labour, being allowed to move around during labour, not labouring in a communal room, good medical reputation) and found a hospital which offered this. I'm willing to deal with the negative aspects ie. short visiting hours for my husband, bathroom down the hall, communcal room etc. since I have no other choice.

Hi C in Bo---i'm also from BO and expecting my first. Which hospital did you deliver? And how were you able to have the ostetrica come to your house for breastfeeding? thanks for any info...

quote:

Originally posted by C in Bo:

quote:

Apparently, one colleague, an ostetrica in Bologna works for the public health system and will go to a woman's house to help with breastfeeding all under the public system!

Yes, I had my ostetrica come to our house for this - she was absolutely brilliant. However, the care in the hospital was not good at all - no help with breastfeeding, about ten women per bathroom (down the hall) and no water births - so definitely not all good in the north!

Hi dentpatient!
I went to my local "consultorio" for my check-ups during pregnancy (each quartiere has one) - although I only found out about it half way through! The ostetrica I had there was absolutely lovely and she decided to come out to my house to help me as it would be more relaxed. I think they normally do this if at all possible a few days after the birth. I gave birth at S Orsola. If you are interested, there is a thread on Bologna maternity hospitals here. (It's on the International Women's Forum of Bologna website - a great resource - I don't know if you already know them?) Hope that helps.

Hi C in BO,
Thanks for the link and info. I'm also looking into St.Orsola for the birth. The doctor that is following me is there. I still have ways to go i'm only 20 weeks. i'll check into the consultorio for my quartiere hopefully they also have info regarding "corsi pre parto".

quote:

Originally posted by C in Bo:
Hi dentpatient!
I went to my local "consultorio" for my check-ups during pregnancy (each quartiere has one) - although I only found out about it half way through! The ostetrica I had there was absolutely lovely and she decided to come out to my house to help me as it would be more relaxed. I think they normally do this if at all possible a few days after the birth. I gave birth at S Orsola. If you are interested, there is a thread on Bologna maternity hospitals here. (It's on the International Women's Forum of Bologna website - a great resource - I don't know if you already know them?) Hope that helps.