ballerina

Hi Everyone,

I have been reading the old threads about having babies in Italy with rapid palpitations and horror at the thought of no gas and air or epidurals... however, from speaking to friends of OH whose wives have had babies recently, maybe there has been some progress in maternity care in Italy as one wife had an epidural...

At least, I hope this is the case as I've just discovered I'm pregnant and will very likely be having the baby here as I'm working here and there are no bloody flights from Pisa to anywhere near my English home for half the year!

Has anyone any recent experience of having babies in Italy? I have absolutely no idea about this. I'm in La Spezia and I heard that the hospital in Sarzana had a wonderful maternity unit, but then I heard that it had closed down and a wife of a friend had a really terrible experience!

I've heard that it varies from region to region and there there is no post natal care, but is there anything like a midwife with a plan who follows your pregnancy (does that happen in England?) and helps you make a birth plan etc. Also, are they so anti caesarean as they seem to be in England at the moment? I'd like to request this as I have a fractured coccyx and i'm pooing myself after hearing the horror stories associated with labour and fractured coccyxes (sp)..

So, if anyone has any 2010 stories, i'd be really grateful!

Thanks xxx

LivingHere

First, Congratulations!
I don't have a 2010 but I do have a 2007 story. It was fine. No gas and air and no epidural but when its not an option you get on with it. I had really good care and if you explain about your coccyx they will certainly take it into account. Although anti-section they are not here.

The lack of aftercare is the only thing I missed about the UK but where we are there a couple of private midwives who will come to your house.

ballerina

Thanks! do you think that an interfering-but-with-all-best-intentions- mum or mother in law is as good as a midwife for aftercare/advice? Is there no aftercare at all, or is it just that they don't come to your house, you have to go to them? I have seen things like electronic baby scales in Unieuro online and wondered if that meant you had to do it all yourself or whether it was just 'vigilance' over personal health (my OH and family have their own nebulizers and it's only his sister and me that have asthma, and not even bad asthma at that!)

LivingHere

In my case, I was let out of hospital on the second day (I asked to go home a day early) and told to make an appointment with my paed when the baby was six weeks old. BUT I was told that if I was worried about anything that I could always go back to hospital.

I did borrow some scales when I had a baby here although you can also have the baby weighed at the pharmacy. Don't inflate the aftercare in the UK, the midwife comes to house, stays for between five and thirty mins and then goes. The beauty of it was that I didn't have to leave the house. I never had a section so I really don't know how that would be different.

You will be looked after and you have plenty of time to sort out the details!

Snow-drop

Hi ballerina,

I have a 20 month old son (who was born in the UK). I fractured my coccyx years ago snowboarding in Italy. I also read the horrors stories, but wanted to let you know that I had a natural birth. During the birth my coccyx gave mr no problems, the only issues were during the pregnancy itself during the last month or so (just a bit uncomfortable, I guess because your bones move a bit getting ready for the birth). so hopefully that'll put your mind at rest.

With regard to the midwife aftercare, I felt being a first time Mum it was a bit of reassurance that a professional was checking on the baby. Although, in hindsight, although it WAS reassuring, I also realised that they're advice was just opinion and not necessarily upheld by the medical profession on the whole. So I definately wouldn't miss it the second time around. So I think and interfering but well meaning Mum or MIL would do just as nicely! As all you really need is assurance and maybe a bit of advice.

Now, I am still in the UK but am moving to Italy next week. My hubby's and I are going to try for the second baby soon- I am now horrified about the prospects of giving birth in Italy. No way I'd do it without gas and air (g&a)! My first birth was a bit of a nightmare, but I came obut knowing that I want g&a throughout the labour! It's fab!

Having said that, apparently the baby gets assigned a paediatrician as soon as your pregnant, so that's great as here in the UK trying to get my son seen my anyone other that a GP (which is just that-general!), was a nightmare. My Italian MIL was horrified that when my son was ill that he hadn't seen a paediatrician and that the GP had referred him and we were waiting for the appointment to come through even though we had private healthcare. She was also incredulous that the GP that examined our son was the same doctor thst my hubby and I saw when we're ill. She called a paediatrician that morning (a saturday) and he arrived at the house 30minutes later to examine our son!

please let me know about the gas and air, as if you really can't get it, I am having the baby (assuming we're lucky enough to conceived again) in Switzerland or back in the UK!

Sorry for the long post!

gelato

Hello and congratulations! I had a baby in Rome in 2008 and had a great experience complete with epidural. The trick is to do some research and find out which hospitals are free and easy with the epidurals and which aren't (some hospitals are very dissapproving of epis- some only offer them during the day etc.) Also Italy has one of the highest c-section rates in the world - actually much TOO high. So you should have no problem getting an elective c-section if you'd like one.

Good luck - I'd recommend the forums on 'al femminile' and just asking around for doing your research.

giodafa

My advice would be to find a private doctor who works in public hospital, although you can't guarantee he will be on shift the day you give birth unless you plan a c section which is much easier with a private doctorAs for post natal care I think it depends alot on where you live, I had 2 appointments for post natal checkups within 2 weeks, but thats at the hospital nobody comes to visit you at home.If you're not feeling upto it your husband can go and pick a paediatrician at your local asl the day you leave hospital.As for mums and mother in laws they will never understand these"modern ways" of raising kids, so trust your paediatrician and your mother insticnt. Good luck

gelato

Actually my daughter's paediatrician was kind of stuck in the dark ages when it came to breastfeeding and then solids. She wanted me to BF my daughter only once every 4 hours (giving her the dummy if she cried beetween feeds) and then wanted me to give her all these weird foods (pureed rabbit meat in a jar anyone? ) when it was time for solids. Also, she was really disapproving when I was still BFing at 10 monthes (I ended up BF until 13 months when I had to stop because I was very sick and hospitalised but I would have continued longer if not).

Anyway - all I can say is read up on breastfeeding and other baby things becuase Italian paediatricians can be pretty old fashioned. Another thing which I thought was ridiculous - at the hospital they told me to avoid whole categories of foods while breastfeeding (dairy products, calciforous veggies, chocolate) even though my baby didn't show any signs of intolerance. No wonder so few Italian women breastfeed beyond 4 months!

Lorna at Vicenza

It must depend on the paediatrician. I breastfed both my babies for 6 months and don't remember anybody telling me to avoid dairy or anything - apart from alcohol. I actually thought breastfeeding here was a doddle as nobody made any comments or frowned at me and I breastfed in bars and on park benches and in pizzerias ... all very discreetly.

I do remember following the recipe for baby's first broth that was in the baby book the hospital gave me. I put 1 courgette, 1 carrot and 1 potato in the required 500 ml of water or whatever it was and left it to simmer for 20 minutes. When I went to the kitchen 20 minutes later the pan had boiled dry and the veg were burnt to the bottom of the pan ! That's when I mostly stopped listening to the Italians about weening baby and did my own thing.

PAT M

Congratulations Ballerina, my experience of giving birth in Italy is way out of date (early 70's) even then I thought they had some pretty old fashioned ideas (e.g. told I shouldn't wash of my hair for the weeks following the birth) and the birth was calculated by consulting the full moon on the calendar I'm sure you'll be fine these days, all the best.

DaniL

Hello Ballerina! I had a baby in florence last August so I can tell ypu all about that but your region probably do it different! Have you already got a gynae? You need to see them every month for a check up, I got a private English speaking, English trained one and it was worth the ridiculous amounts of money!
Here the ASL give you a book for all your blood tests and scans so you know which week to go and you give them a page from the book to prove you get the test for free. In Florence certain hospitals will do epidurals. All the maternity wards here have a weekly open day so it might be worth phoning your local ones and seeing if they do too. I opted for a birth centre rather than the ward, it was wonderful. No pain relief as there were no Dr.s but I managed! I was discharged after 2 days but in other hospitals it's 3 for natural birth and between 5&7 for CS.
I was told my local midwife would visit me at home but she never did! Noone else I know got a visit either, but the midwives at the hospital said to phone if I needed anything.
I'm sure you're well aware of how Italians do everything differently, once the baby arrives everyone will have some "advice" for you. I'm sure you'll know what's nonsense - I was told last week my baby can't breathe with the plastic raincover on her pushchair
Hope it all goes well, sorry I can't give specific advice for your area!

Isakat

Well, you should have seen the face of one of the pediatricians when she found out I was still breastfeeding my son at 24 mts! I was told he would have psychological problems later in life.I never intended to breastfeed him that long, I am not an earthmother, but he was so happy eating his food and having a breastfeed now and then, especially when he was tired. I think this was a compensation for a dummy.
So, 7 years on, he is fully balanced, healthy and very affectionate, more than my 10 y. old daughter, but I think this is because he is a boy, not because of being breastfed for so long( she was breastfed for 7 mts).
Each to their own, do what your instincts say, not what the doctors trumpet to you.
I also weaned him off to solids my way,like Lorna,no brodo and rabbit/horse meat in jars.

Lorna at Vicenza

Oooooh horse meat. I was told several times that this is soooooo good for baby/toddler because it's so lean and packed with iron ...... but I could never bring myself to buy it let alone cook it.

I was also told liver is good, but unless it's in the form of a good paté, I can't stand it.

I remember making my kids something we called 'Soggy Chicken' It was just some finely shredded and chopped up chicken breast mixed up with English gravy so it wasn't too dry for them to chew and swallow. They loved it with a bit of mash and some pureed carrot.

37100

Long time ago , but and the end of a visit after giving me instructions, our pediatrician would look at me at say some thing along the lines of, "I don't no why I bother, you never listen". Yeah, I didn't and they both grew up just nicely.

DaniL

My pediatra is very nice, I thought she'd have a fit last week when I told her my baby will be veggie as hubby and I both are, she just said "oh, make sure you give her legumes then". I love all the different baby cheese in jars, well Fifi does, I just like having something else to buy All the meat baby food upsets me, the painitings of those happy little animals on the jars!