Mumsnet Little Italy 4

[Rosa]

Ciao - Everybody Welcome.

Over here you really have no choice I think. I just went to a doc that was reccomended by a friend. I think you can go via the hospital if you want but at the docs surgery you can do everything on one go scan etc .
So you are not near 90kg then ?????

i will be after my 2nd slice of bread and nutella .

Ciao!
I don't think there is much difference between a midwife and an ostetrica. Ity's a 3 yrs degree, but the english one is probably more "hands on", while the Italian one is more teorico, as usual. The thing is that in Englanbd midwives "do more", as with a normal, healthy pregnancy you might never get to see an obstetrician, while in Italy there aren't many midwifery led units... I had a fantastic ginecologa in Italy, I used to pay for appointments at the hospital (ci sono delle convenzioni), roughly 90 euros scan included. I could have gone for free at the morning surgery at the hospital, but I was working at the time and preferred to see the doctor after 6 pm.
I'm coming down with one of my usual, violent cold, where I sneeze very loudly and my nose is all red... gkhjgsjkgnjk...

when did you feel the movemnets of your second baby franca?

Ha! nonna is here so DD is being amused and I can come on here in peace.

Yes, DP is strange, but he does have his redeeming features

Hi Gemma, thanks for the info on that website, I'll look at it later. Do you look at any Italian in Italy forums too? I accidentally stumbled on the Donna Moderna forum once [ugh!] and then there was one for cloth nappy users but they were all in Trentino so not very interesting to me. There were another couple but they were very baci e abbracci and so not my scene, a bit like those horrible UK sites with the tickers where no one is allowed to express a different opinion. That's why I'm not terribly sure that a mnet style site would take off here, or maybe I know too many permalose....

HHell - with DD in Milano I went to the consultorio and saw the ginegologa there. Didn't pay a penny, only for the odd blood test that wasn't covered and the strep B where I paid the ticket, all scans free, CVS free, then onto hospital for monitoraggio at the end with more free scans etc. All excellent service, very good gynae, very good ostetrica at the consultorio who did the corso pre parto.

I preferred not to go private as I trust the public system more and anyway all the gynaes in private practice are public ones too, but I think that in Milano we're lucky as there's lots of choice. My ex who was pugliese had to drive his wife 160km to Bari every time to see a private gynae as there just wasn't a decent public one locally and that is apparently the norm there.

Franca, I have a sneezy cold too, the kind where you worry about not getting your tissue out in time and accidentally drenching the person in front.

we have the same cold then Brangelina .

Hhell, I think I felt dd moving at around 17 weeks? (not terribly sure) I was still sleeping a pancia in giu' and she rebelled...

Yes, I agree there's no need to go private, at least in Milan. As I said my ginecologo worked at mangiagalli and run there a "private" clinic in the afternoon, which for me was more convenient than showing up in the morning, which was free, but you risked to wait hrs and get told off at work... . the monitoraggi at 40 weeks were brilliant, you also got a (free) scan to check the health of the placenta and how much fluids you had... it was early july and I remember going for the monitoriaggio (2 days before I gave birth), a blissful half an hour of monitoraggio with a book (I think I was readinf an India Knight book). I mean, who could have guessed that within only a few hours half an hour with a book would have been a decadent luxury????

i had friends from puglia when younger, brilliant cooks, also the men, always thought it would be great to have a pugliese husband, very witty too, anyway i am rambling a bit.
well i am pleased that the servizio sanitario still sort of works in italy, i don't know how the poor manage there, no benefits, nothing!
have you seen the new moretti movie, saw him being interviewed by serena dandini, also young gassman was there, he is soooo wonderful, moretti i mean, gassman unfortunately seems thick to me, merely becasue he is so perfect looking.

Franca, grazie del benvenuto...

Rosa - yes with a 16 week old baby I hardly have time for MN but to be honest it keeps me sane.....and in general the internet keeps me connected to the (grownup) world.

Brangelina, the Italiansonline site also has a section for Italians in Italy. It's very very different from mumsnet but I find it reasonably useful for a variety of things. I just avoid the politics section because I end up getting upset...but otherwise I find it's generally pretty civilised.

Ah and yes, unfortunately cloth nappies are virtually unheard of in Italy. I use them but I always struggle to explain that to my friends back home.

gemma will check the website you mentioned...

a couple of years ago i joined the site italiani a londra, and left my details saying that i wanted to meet italian mums, got 2 emails back, one from somebody called gaetano who wanted to meet me for a bit of fun, and another guy peppe who wanted to go for a drink and get close to me. AGGGGGAfdlskajkvjvna it was really horrible, anyway i am not registered with them anymore.

lol hothell!
My cold is getting worse.
There's nothing on the telly, save the festival di sanremo... which I used to get excited about in a snobbish way, until roughly ten yrs ago... will wait for the dopofestival with elio e le storie tese...
gemma, cosa ci fai in north london?

DD is going down with something here as well. She did not finish her milk. Right off lunch and has a febbre ( we invested in one of those infared things as I was fed up with having to sit with her in a lock for 4 mins for the mercury ones.) Will see what comes out with. Franca have you stopped taking your zinc and Vit C?? I have been taking it since Christmas and so far so good BUT I get what dd has so we will see. Brang is it Nonna inglese round ?
Gio Gio where are youoooooooo - Been quiet from Roma for too long ?????
Hot I felt DD at round 4 months but it was hard to distinguish if it was her or me wanting to think it was her !!!

Hi - can I join? I moved to Italy nearly a year ago - and have only just managed to find this thread!

My story goes - married Italian (who moved to England many years ago), moved to Trentino in April last year with intention that it was perm, then dh got job in Rome three months later so we are now here in Rome. Have ds who is 2yr 1mth. Am trying to work out the Italian medical system atm as we are TTC #2. No idea what hospitals are like in Rome, but I know the ones in Trentino are pretty good from what I hear. May need to relocate for 9 months if I get a BFP!

We are also trying to work out the Asilo situation, given that our residency is in Trentino (we are building a house) but we are domiciled here in Rome. Any ideas? Can we apply to the state nurseries or do we just go straight to private?

This is my first san remo, so am looking forward to working it all out.

My Italian is improving all the time so look forward to working out what all these odd Italian comments mean and joining in with them!

Nice to meet you all.

Hello hello, I think I remember you Tantik when you said you were going to move over - we had chats about TV - some device to get sky UK !
WOw big difference from Trentino to Rome. Gio 71 is from Rome as well. Her ds is 15 mths I think.
You need Franca and Brangelina to help you with Asilo stuff Franca has just been through it all with her dds coming back from the UK.
As regards medical stuff even if you are domiciled you will need a gp . List can be obtained from the USL nearest to you. I had a private Gyne but there will be free clinics either in a hospital or medical centre if you prefer. I felt confident about being pregnant in Italy as they tested you for everything- more than the Uk. Blood tests every month ( you need to get up at dawn for them an on an empty stomach as well- take a good book and be prepared to battle with teh over 70s! )Scans every month. Giving birth my hosp did not offer as much as teh bigger ones e.g Milan or I guess Rome.
Are you in the centre of Rome ??

Oh God forgot forget San Remo hire a DVD instead !

Hello TantiK .
I don't really know what is the situation like in Rome hospital wise... I suppose they should be ok (I'm addicted to reparto maternita', which I always watch when I'm at the inlaws - they have SKY - and it's set at the maternity unit in San Camillo in Rome... ). Like in Milan, there is probably a hospital best for "natural births", another that's best for problematic pregnancies... not sure, I'm just making it up .
You don't need a residenza to get a GP (medico di famiglia) and a paediatrician. You can get a temporary doctor, (go to the ASL closer to your home), I think it's for one year and then you have to register again.
However, to get a place at nursery comunale (is it nido or scuola materna??) you do need the residenza. the website of comune di roma has all the details... I haven't read it all but it seems that the time for registering is up... I'd probably ring your nearest scuola d'infanzia comunale and ask. There are also scule d'infanzia statali and the way of registering is different.
Good luck!!! (the process of registering is a PAIN, but scuole d'infanzia are generally lovely IMHO).

Rosa, my cold is pretty bad and ds still has a temperature (though seems in a good mood etc). I forgot to anwer about bottles for milk, I used avent... both my 2 dc drank milk from a bottle first thing in the morning until the age of 3 (roughly). Thet loved it and regressed to babyhood, why not, I say .

Hi Franca,
I am an expert in environmental policy and campaigns, but now I am obviously on maternity leave. I was working freelance before the baby, so I am not sure when I'll go back to work - possibly around September.

In fact, I am in the process of trying to find a nursery nearby. They are so expensive! And the quality seems to vary a lot....I saw one this morning that I didn't like at all...

On the health care in pregnancy, it does seem pretty good in Italy - ar at least in the large cities. I heard about the "monitoraggio" at Mangiagalli. Here I had the baby 13 days beyond the EDD and my friends back home were surprised I wasn't being monitored more carefully during the last few days.

I am also interested in the asili/residenza issue because DH and I are toying with the idea of spending 6-months in Italy in the next 3 years or so, and in any case before DS goes to school, so he (DH) can learn Italian and my son can practice it.

Rosa, non BPA bottles - the best solution is just to use glass bottles? If you want plastic ones, I bought Lansinoh ones which are the only ones advertising that they are free from the chemicals. (Mind you my ds refuses to take a bottle....oh well..).

ciao gemma,
environmental policies sounds very interesting .

Gosh, yes, nurseries in England are a hot topic and the quality varies immensely. I've always been quite happy of the one the children attended when in England, and it improved a lot while the children were there (mainly the quality of the food). Why don't you start a thread asking if someone can recommend a nursery in your area?

In Italy, well in Milan you def need the - now infamous - residenza to register your child for a place at nursery (also there is a difference between nido and scuola materna, where it's easier to get a place), so if you'll be here only for six months you will probably have to choose a private one. And while it's very easy to find a nido privato, it's more difficult finding a private scuoloa materna, which is what I had to do. Having arrived back to Milan in December, i couldn't apply for places at scuola materna comunale (you can only apply in January, have just done so for september 2008). As I said there aren't many scuole materne private and most of them are catholic which we didn't want. But now I'm an expert of private asili and can give you lots of advise

Evening all (hi to Gemmamc and TantiK).
Watching San Remo, is anyone else? A guilty pleasure. DS has had normal poo for 2 days!!!!!!!!!! TMI I know but had to share my relief
TantiK welcome to Rome! Where do you live? Do you like it? What does DH do, (so many questions). Re hospitals if you get your BFP then get straight down to Fatebenefratelli Hospital on Isola Tiberina. DS was born there and it is LOVELY. It's quite small, spotless, so friendly and is famous for its maternity care. PLUS they do free epidurals which swung it for me . You are just 2 people to a room and they do rooming in with your dc. The medical staff there were lovely, ah am getting quite emotional remembering. Oh and plus you can tell all your friends etc back in the UK that your DC was born on an island in the centre of Rome which sure as hell sounded better than Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport which was the other possibility for me . Being pregnant in Italy is fantastic. Like Rosa said they do a load more tests than in the UK, the level of monitoring is much better, then a few weeks before the birth you go and have the lovely monitoraggi Franca mentioned a few days a week for hlf an hours read and relax. PLUS you get given seats on overcrowded buses, get told to go to front of queues and have strangers coming up to you to wish you auguri. Mind you maybe it was just cos I was SO HUGE that people thought I must be expecting triplets at the very least! God I am rabbitting on, back to San Remo

I'm ashamed to say that I couldn't bear watching Sanremo for more than 2 minutes, and I used to watch it religiously ! I don't know, I really like Chiambretti, but the songs, were appalling (though I have a soft spot for grignani). So, I ended up watching the teen movie "tre metri sopra il cielo" (set in Rome), which I thought was rubbish, but the actor is actually quite fit .
Gio, glad your ds has recovered . the hospital sounds lovely...
Hhell, where are you? stop watching grand design and come over here! How is your ds doing at primary??

why did I put a comma between the songs and were appalling btw????????

Gio watching San remo ....You have been in Italy too long !
Even Radio 80 is doing San Remo hits in the 80s..I am going to put the web radio on and listen to that !