Having a baby can be daunting at the best of times, but doing it all in a country that isn’t your home, and a possibly unfamiliar language is an extra hurdle. I was lucky to have a very positive experience when our son was born in 2017 – here is some of what I learnt.
Private or public care?
The first thing to do when you discover that you’re pregnant is to choose whether to have your pregnancy followed privately or through the National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale).
If you opt for a private gynaecologist as we did, expect to pay up to 150€ a visit. With visits every six weeks or so that can add up, but for that price you should have scans included and will be followed by one doctor throughout your pregnancy, possibly even one who works at the hospital where you want to give birth, which can have its advantages.
I couldn’t get to the bottom of how the health service option works when we were making our choice – all my Italian contacts said people go private unless they’re desperate(!), so I didn’t feel our decision was very well informed. I’ve since discovered that regular checks would be organised through your local Consultorio (family planning centre), with scans being done at hospital. I’d actually be happy to try this route if we have another baby, especially if we’re still in the area as our local Consultorio is really good.
Tests
Private or otherwise, your doctor will refer you for regular blood and urine tests to check for toxoplasmosis and various other conditions – these are free. You can also pay for tests to check your health before your pregnancy. I went either to the local hospital (expect the usual ticket and queuing system although pregnancy precedence helps speed things up a bit) or a private lab called SynLab which involved less waiting.
When it comes to genetic screening if, like I was, you’re over 35, you’ll be offered amniocentesis screening for free. You can also pay for Harmony testing (around 400€ I believe) or do a duo test, which is also free. We opted for the duo test which is a scan combined with a blood test, done at l’Ospedale Civile. I was very impressed with how thorough the scan was and found the experience reassuring.
Hospitals
While there are other options for where you want to give birth, hospital is still the most common option in Italy. I didn’t look into birthing centres (Case di Nascita) or homebirths but your doctor or Consultorio should be able to advise if that’s what you want.
It’s worth doing a bit of research into which hospital you want to choose – talk to other mums and organise a tour.
You’ll need to know the hospital you want to go to when it comes to signing consent for an epidural (if you want one – see note below on pain relief) and doing your pre-admittance tests (pre-recovero), both of which happen in the final few weeks before giving birth.
La Fondazione Poliambulanza, Ospedale Civile and Città di Brescia all have maternity facilities, as do some local hospitals. We started off choosing Iseo, which would have been convenient for where we live, but in the end we went to La Fondazione Poliambulanza as it fitted more with what we wanted. So I did my antenatal course (see below) in Iseo, but gave birth at the Poliambulanza.
Favourite fact
The word 'Doula' comes from the Italian expression for giving birth 'dare alla luce' (to give to the light). Isn't that lovely?
I’ve heard lots of positive stories from mums who’ve given birth at different hospitals, but have to say we were really impressed with the Poliambulanza. I felt the team really listened to what I wanted in the run up to giving birth (they’re pro-natural birth there and also offer rooming in, which was what I wanted – be aware some hospitals still insist babies sleep in a nursery at night!), I had two midwives with me the whole time I was in labour, and the after-care and breastfeeding support was excellent.
It’s usual to stay for two nights in hospital following an uncomplicated birth, maybe slightly longer for a c-section. Being from the UK where you can get sent home after six hours, this felt quite luxurious! If you’re a breakfast person, take supplies – you’ll be given coffee and a couple of biscuits. I had to persuade the nurses to bring me hot water and milk to make tea, and having given birth at 4am I was grateful for the stash of snacks we’d brought! Lunch and dinner are pretty decent though.
Antenatal courses
As far as I know, most hospitals offer antenatal courses, and our local Consultorio does as well. The course I did at Iseo hospital was paid for (about 60€). Courses vary – mine was quite traditional (during the day and ‘just for mums’), whereas I discovered later that the Poliambulanza and our Consultorio offer courses for both parents. Nevertheless, the course I did was informative (as much as I could understand of it!) and it was nice to meet some other mums.
Good to know
The general approach to pain relief in Italy is epidural, birthing pool or....nothing. Actually having done the whole natural birth thing, I think this is great, but it took me a while to accept there would be no gas and air! Every mother in Lombardy is entitled to a free epidural, but you have to give prior consent at the hospital where you give birth.
Name, registration and paediatrician
It’s really common in Italy to find out the gender of your baby and name it before it’s born. People are generally very open about sharing their chosen names. If you want a surprise make sure you are clear at every appointment, otherwise you’ll soon know from references to la/il bambina/o!
If you’re registering the birth in Italy, you can do so in hospital with three days, or at your local commune in ten days. Bear in mind that Italians have to use all their names all the time – so any middle names would be used for bank accounts, formal correspondence etc. Eyebrows were raised at our commune when we registered our son with two surnames, but it can be done!
As part of the registration, your child will get their financial code (Codice Fiscale), which you need to get their health card (Tessera Sanitaria) at the ASL (Azienda Sanitaria Locale). Once that’s set up, the ASL will allocate a local paediatrician.
Useful vocabulary
Incinta / In attesa / In gravida : Pregnant (informal/formal/formal)
Travaglio : Labour
Contrazione : Contraction
Sala Parto : Birthing room
Reparto di maternita’ : Maternity ward
Ostetrica : Midwife
Ginecologo : Gynocologist
Ricoverato/ pre-ricovero : admitted (to hospital) / pre-admittance
Dimesso : Discharged