“The sharing of the bed between an alert mother and a healthy newborn, placed in a position of safety, is a natural, practical, indisputable fact. The chronic nationwide shortage of obstetric personnel, severely suffered, must not lead to proposals for models organizational systems abandoned for years as they were deemed inappropriate and insecure both by scientific research and by women themselves”. This was underlined by the central committee of the Federation of Orders of the midwifery profession which, making some considerations after the tragedy that occurred at the Pertini hospital in Rome, where a newborn baby died in bed with his mother who had fallen asleep after breastfeeding him, asks not to return back on rooming-in. And to “guarantee maternity services that are increasingly accessible and acceptable and in step with the changing times”.
“The modern organization of birth centers currently provides for the joint assistance of mother and newborn, the so-called rooming-in, which must be proposed – the midwives point out – also guaranteeing an adequate number of professional midwives in order to best express the quality of the assistance services to be provided and the necessary practical and emotional support for the new family”.
For Fnopo, in fact, “the rooming-in model, introduced in Italy starting from the 1980s, implementing the recommendations of WHO and Unicef, is advantageous for the creation of the new dyad (triad, if we also consider the presence of other parent) and for the promotion of breastfeeding and early care, when new families have been adequately informed, involved and supported by health professionals able to offer assistance that is as individualized and empathetic as possible”.
“Accredited guidelines and clinical care recommendations identify safety through the care and organizational link that is created between health professionals and the woman-couple”, the midwives point out, pointing out that “the fundamental variable is the number of midwives available in the NHS to ensure continuity of care, personalization of assistance and timely identification of bio-psycho-social risk factors, the cause of outcomes of avoidable unwanted events”.
“The recent publication of OECD data has highlighted a shortage of around 8,300 midwives, placing the Italian situation, compared to the European panorama, below the European average of 14.2 midwives per 100,000 inhabitants – denounces Fnopo – Therefore, it is a duty of the National and regional health service improve the organization of birth centers both through the use of technologies, instruments and structures that comply with common safety standards, and through an increase in the number of midwives so that they can be able to offer continuity the standard of qualified and safe assistance”.
“Expressing moved closeness to the parents and family members affected by the mournful event and to all the obstetric professionals and all healthcare professionals”, the Fnopo leaders finally remarked how “these issues can no longer be postponed and must be a priority on the political agenda for the coming months so that women and families can receive appropriate, accessible obstetric care and care and be supported in their parenting role”.