International Day of Home Childbirth – Clarifications by Sofia Colaceci, Researcher and Professor of Midwifery at UniCamillus

International Day of Home Childbirth is celebrated all over the world on 6 June, and it draws the attention to the freedom to choose the place of delivery. In fact, for women and couples who wish it, delivering the baby at home or in the maternity home can be a valid alternative to hospital birth, if the pregnancy is at low risk.

In Italy there are several maternity homes capable of offering a safe and comfortable environment for future parents and the unborn child. Currently, the extra-hospital childbirths (at home or in the maternity home) stand less than 1% for a number of reasons, especially of economic and cultural nature.

Numerous studies show that home-assisted births are able to ensure fewer interventions on the mother and child and greater awareness on the part of the new parents.

Sofia Colaceci, Researcher and Professor of Obstetrics Sciences in the Degree Course in Obstetrics at UniCamillus, highlights that “to date, extra-hospital birth is a private path, guaranteed by freelance midwives. As for Lazio, the reimbursement of the expenses incurred by the couple, where provided, is offered by the Regional Health System, but only in part. The partiality of the reimbursement can therefore be a deterrent for those couples who, although wishing to undertake the extra-hospital birth journey, are in such economic conditions that they cannot choose it”.

“A further cultural deterrent – continues the Professor – is the modern social security construct which, with regard to childbirth, would seem to be guaranteed only within the walls of the hospital. As a matter of fact, safety is also guaranteed in the extra-hospital journey, first of all thanks to a careful and rigorous selection of low-risk pregnancies which allows the exclusion of the ones characterized by clinical conditions at greater risk of invasive or cesarean section procedures. In addition, safety is guaranteed by the training of freelance midwives who need to be constantly updated in order to be able to promptly recognize any clinical conditions that require transfer to the hospital and to manage any emergencies on the spot”.

UniCamillus has always supported the right of women and couples to choose the most suitable place of birth. It also recognizes the importance of training future midwives on the extra-hospital childbirth path since the university triennium. For this reason, from the next academic year special workshops and educational activities will be included in the training offer, in collaboration with the freelance midwives of Lazio.