homebirth in Italy?

[caedmyn]

Boy there's not many posts here so who knows if I'll get an answer...anyhow, we are a military family and considering trying to get an assignment in Italy this fall. Before we do this I am trying to find out if homebirths are legal in Italy and how difficult it is to find a homebirth midwife. Anyone know?

[MommyChani]

homebirth

BH

my midwife who lives in Rome does homebirths, you may want to call her for information, her name is Valerie and she can be reached at 39.06.5758648.
She's italo-american and speaks perfect english.

[jenni_goes_grrr]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

Boy there's not many posts here so who knows if I'll get an answer...anyhow, we are a military family and considering trying to get an assignment in Italy this fall. Before we do this I am trying to find out if homebirths are legal in Italy and how difficult it is to find a homebirth midwife. Anyone know?

thank you for asking this! My husband and I are also Military and trying to get orders to Italy!! Please post if you find out anything..
-jenni

[eharmony_blessed]

Anything new on this?

[peggyitaly]

Hi,
I live in central Italy and am American. When I was pregnant with my daughter I was considering a homebirth. It is definitely possible to do so but you need to find out what the laws are for the region you live in. YOu can find out from the A.S.L which would be the public healthcare system. I decided
in the end to not do a homebirth because I would have had to go through much more red tape since I have hypothyroidism. Another factor for me was that it was too expensive as well. The region i live in reimburses like 80% percent of the costs ONLY if the homebirth is successful. If it's not, then you still have to pay the midwife. I hope I'm making sense. You could also try contacting an association here in italy that promotes active labour births and does prenatal classes, called Melograno. They have, i think, 4 offices throughout Italy. I'm part of La Leche in Ancona, Italy and have heard that there is a lll leader on one of the military bases in italy. So you could also try to contact her. Anyway, the term in italy is "parto in casa" and I'm pretty sure it is legal pretty much everywhere. I hope I was helpful. I don't check this area very often but if I can help in another ways please feel free to send a pm.

Ciao Peggy

[alilu]

Hi Caedmyn
Sorry I'm posting this so late but I haven't looked here in a while.
I had a homebirth here in Italy in the Lombardy region. It was a great experience. The word midwife, levatrice, is pretty archaic and I got some funny looks when I used it. In the end I couldn't find one but found basically the equivalent here: an obstetrician who assists natural births. It was costly but worth it, esp considering the caesarian rate and some-to me- scary manuevers they sometimes do in hospitals here (of course depends on many factors).
I'd be happy to tell you more if you want to pm me.
Good luck,
Mary

[RomanGoddess]

Reviving this thread because I would like to have a home birth (we live in Rome) and am considering using either Anna-Maria from Nascere e Crescere or Valeria, referred to in an above post. If anyone has any experience with either of these two midwives (or anyone else who does home births) please post here or send me a PM! Thanks!

[suearoo22]

We were stationed in Italy in Sigonella from 1999-2002 I had 2 births there. I know back then that homebirths were not allowed in housing then I have no idea if it has changed and I am pretty sure they are making people live in housing these days no other choice. I did have a wonderful experience birthing there though my first was high risk and he unfortunatly died soon after birth (nothing do to my care he had multiple birth defects) With my 2nd I had gone in for a check up and they did check me since I was having regular contractions for about a day or so, I was 5 centimeters dialated and 100% effaced so they kept me since I lived an hour from the hospital. It was a beautiful birth there were only 2 other people in the room with us the dr and the nurse. No drugs were used they did break my water and she came an hour later. There is total rooming in there no nursery to be found. Husbands are encouraged to stay and they have their own bed to sleep in. Breastfeeding is highly encouraged and formula feeding is looked down upon. I was terrified of breastfeeding my daughter after losing my son and they worked with me diligently till I was comfortable on my own feeding her. It truly was a wonderful experience.