Moving to Italy

[Albadaisy]

I'm moving to Italy in a few weeks and I'm pregnant. Does anyone have any experience or advice about pregnancy and giving birth in Italy? I have health insurance and will be based around Gallarate.
I'm terrified about this, so please be nice to me!!

do you speak italian?
have you go your health insurance set up?
are you being transferred with work and will have maternity cover?

does your health insurance include pregnancy and childbirth

many are only for complications in childbirth

Nope, I'm trying to learn. 😁
Yes, through my husband's work- we're moving for his job. It includes up to $10,000 routine maternity cover and unlimited emergency cover.

does he speak italian?

do you know anyone out there?

No and no 😅

Watch out because during birth gas and air is unheard of and epidural is only available in a few hospitals, so it’s either no pain relief or caesarean.
Pretty barbaric and blood loss, unrequested episiotomy and stitches without numbing spray and strong abdomen manoevers are common. I was also refused water or ice chips for more than an hour post delivery.
I had both mine in Italian state hospitals and it was such a shock the first time because nobody told me the truth about how painful it would be. And I have a pretty high threshold. Guess why my children are 8 years apart?

I know quite a few British women who went back to UK for their births. One went privately to what she called the “Queen Mum” in London. If you’re not planning to live in Italy forever, maybe consider that. Especially post Brexit.

On the plus side, you check in for birth as an emergency case, so nobody asks for proof of Italian National Health number.
This is to protect the mother’s identity if she wishes to give the baby up for adoption.
You can also do prenatal courses free of charge at the local Consultorio Famigliare.

The Consultorio is a good place for registering your baby when you’re back in Italy because they will book you in for all his/her vaccinations and well-being checks.

I’ve just checked, it was the Glasgow Queen Mum, now closed.

How many weeks are you @Albadaisy?

I have heard a lot of bad things about Italian hospitals in general - there seems to be a significant north/south divide in standard of hospital/treatment

@CadyEastman 12 weeks so still early days!

shhhhhhiiiitttt!

Thank you for your honest opinions and for sharing your experiences. I think it's made me realise what has been niggling me in the back of my mind. Going to reconsider the move and see whether we can postpone until next year. It would be such a relief for me!

@FunnyFinch 🤣

I had a baby in Italy 25 years ago and the medical care was completely different to the UK at the time - no pain relief in labour, epidural only if you paid several hundred euros, babies kept locked up in the nursery apart from predetermined feeding times when they were wheeled out onto the wards.

I expect lots of things have changed since then but from my experience I’d say don’t assume it will be anything like the UK.

If postponing isn't an option would you consider coming back to the UK to have LO? And are you having Italian lessons? If so, just be mindful accents. I know someone who emigrated to France, paid a Tutor to get them more fluent before emigrating and when they got their people were laughing and saying "why are you speaking with such a strong Parisian accent"?

I'd definitely see if it can be postponed, I couldn't think of anything scarier then giving birth in a country where neither myself or DH spoke the language, especially if it's true that they don't offer much (if anything) in the way of pain relief 🫣

Personally I don't think it's helpful to tell a PG woman that you can't think of anything scarier.

Lots of women do give birth without pain relief and are ok.

Nobody has even confirmed yet if this is actually what the OP will be facing either as most of the experienced MNers have said that their births in Italy were a while ago.

The OP also has some options:

She can find out what current practices are likely to be in the Hospital local to where she'll be.

They can both do cram learning Italian, they'll need to speak it anyway.

She can learn as many ways of dealing with any pain that she can, like Hypno Birthing and Tens machines

She can see if a Birth Doula are a thing in Italy and get one that is fluent in both English and Italian.

She can come home for the birth.

It's not all doom and gloom and the more anxious a Mother is about any potential pain, the more likely they are to feel the pain more acutely.

well it was wise to convey how scary this situation is because now going to see about whether it can be postponed

Sorry @FunnyFinch, my post was in reference to Santas saint that she can't think of anything scarier.

It is good that the OP possibly has the option of postponing too

you obviously didn’t also see my earlier post!

@Albadaisy one of my best friends lives in Italy and recently gave birth (we met out there years ago and I lived there myself for almost 4 years - learnt Italian whilst there). She's not mentioned the birth being especially traumatic but I can certainly ask her for a bit more information if you'd like. For context, she's British with an Italian husband and has lived there well over a decade - she is not averse to complaining about the state of things there so I feel if she'd had a horrific experience I'd have heard all about it! She is however fluent in Italian.

I never came into contact with he healthcare system much myself so can't comment from personal experience. I did however give birth to my son without pain relief/gas&air and it wasn't horrendous at all - hypnobirthing helped (positive birth company) - that said, I can imagine it being very different if I had known those things weren't even on the table. Every pregnancy is different and I won't be too proud to opt for pain relief next time if needed.

Altogether, I can imagine it being quite daunting giving birth in a foreign country before you've established much of a support network or become competent in the language. Certainly doable, but daunting. If there is a genuine option to postpone your move a year, I'd be tempted by that.

To end on a positive note, Italy is a beautiful country with so much culture and I honestly loved my time there. It very much has it's political and economical dark sides too (where doesn't?!) but if you can throw yourself into the warmth and beauty of the place, there is much to be enjoyed. I still miss it 😊 Good luck! X

She is however fluent in Italian. plus an italian husband plus had already lived there for a decade

i cannot overstate how much of a difference this would have made to her situation as opposed to the OP’s situation.

Yes, which is why I've mentioned them for relevant context. However she's not mentioned having no access to pain relief or having the baby taken away from her for hours which was the picture that had been painted from other posts.