9256 Just arrived

Hello there

I have made the big move from east london to a village called vilanova d'asti close to Turin with my Italian boyfriend.

We have a 13 month old daughter and i am 6 months pregnant with boy bump!

I was spoilt in london with a community midwife, health visitors and lots of different support and play groups. I am struggling to find anything here(aswell as struggling with the language) and was hoping there may be something out there for us or anyone in a similar position? Any advice would be most most welcome! I understand the culture here is to keep it really in the family which would be great if i could communicate with my sort-of-family-in-law. argh!

I have started language lessons in the village for 6 hours week but progress is slow! Am sure i will get there in the end but am feeling apprehensive re giving birth and hospital stay. How life has changed from falling out of pubs&bars in london.

Thankyou thankyou

fifi

Category
Introduce Yourself - Piacere Conoscerti

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/07/2008 - 08:33

Hello Fifi,
Well you have certainly jumped in at the deep end! There is some help at hand if you want. My wife had our third child here 2 yrs ago, it wasn't the best experience. She is a former midwife and health visitor who now has a organic baby shop in Le Marche. I'm sure if you emailed her through the website she would give you some advice or help. She is very pro natural parenting. Her website is [url=http://WWW.mariasorganicbabies.com]Marias Organic Babies[/url]
Regards,
Tony

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/07/2008 - 08:38

Hi
Yes you will learn the language you have to give yourself time ,and having a baby here wont be as it was in the UK, if you expect it to be the same then you could be dissapointed , just make sure you have a good Dr that you are comfortable with and that all tests ect are done, find out if the Dr you go to will give pain feleif if that is an issue for you,I know some people prefer not to have it . Sure it will all be fine and good luck to you.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/07/2008 - 09:56

Hi Fifi! Welcome to the Forum! As you know, to feel aprehensive, no matter where you are, is part of pregnancy, but I am sure that you will be just fine. Look for good medical help that you can trust and you will feel much better.
My very best wishes go with you.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/07/2008 - 19:18

Welcome. Just found this thread - [url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/introduce-yourself-piacere-conoscerti/5091-giving-birth-italy.html[/url] Hope you find useful information there. Buona Fortina

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 04/09/2008 - 05:50

Hi Fifi,
I gave birth in Calabria last May, I had only lived in Italy for a year and my Italian was terrible. It was also my first child so I had nothing to compare it to.

After reading many horror stories about giving birth in Italy, it wasnt that bad. This was my birth story:

[I]Gabriella was due to be born by C-section on Thursday 17th May 2007, due to her being breech.

In the early hours of Tuesday 15th May, I started experiencing contractions which I was unable to sleep through; I spent most of the night watching telly. I thought at first they were Braxton hicks as they were totally irregular, so I thought I would sit them out.

At 6am I decided that we needed to go to the hospital as they were becoming more painful. I had a shower and woke Dave up.

We got to the hospital at 7:30am and I was put on the heart monitor which also measures the contractions which were now coming every 5 minutes. It was then decided that a C-section would be performed that morning. Even though things happened so quickly the staff kept me informed all the time of what was happening. There was one point when I totally lost it and became a little hysterical, you wait 9 months for this but nothing can prepare you for the feeling that she has to come out, the only fear I had was would she be ok. The nurses wiped my tears, blew my nose and comforted me until I calmed down. By 9:45am I was being wheeled into the operating theatre. Unfortunately in Italy family are not allowed in so Dave paced the hall outside.

I was given the epidural and the c-section began, the staff in the operating theatre were fantastic extremely friendly and kept me calm and held my hand through the whole procedure. Gabriella was born at 10:05 weighing 3.5kg (7 and ½ pounds). She was then taken up to the maternity ward along with David while I was sown up. I was back on the maternity ward by 11:15 and had a cuddle with her.

The whole experience of being pregnant and giving birth in Italy was pleasurable the care I received from day one was second to none. All the nurses, my gyne, the cleaner etc. In fact I was the only one on the maternity ward all week.

We came home as a family yesterday (Friday) and are beginning to settle into family life. [/I]

If you have any questions let me know. I can reccomend the following website
[url=http://boards.babycentre.co.uk/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=bcUKParItaly&_requestid=2455223]Parents in Italy/Italian parents[/url]

Regards
melanie

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 13:37

Thankyou everybody for your support and it was lovely to read about the good experience Melanie had. Thankyou! fi

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 16:09

[quote=rach1;87247]Unfortunately in Italy family are not allowed in so Dave paced the hall outside. [/quote]

Hi Melanie,

I was surprised by your statement above. We had our daughter in Pisa in 1981 and my husband was there the entire time. Granted, I had natural childbirth but I don't think he would have been kicked out if I had needed a c-section. We had decided to go to Casa di Cura, which was a semi-private hospital run by nuns and one of the U. of Pisa doctors, who worked with his own mid-wife. We were quite pleased with the care we received there, even though some of their methods were a little antiquated. We had initially planned on going to the U. of Pisa and even there we were told that my husband could stay as long as he was gowned up. We decided against having our daughter there, however, as we weren't that happy with the doctor.