{"id":21902,"date":"2021-01-28T16:09:15","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T15:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/babywellnessfoundation.org\/come-comincia-vita\/capitolo-5-madri-informate-e-ben-assistite\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T09:17:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T08:17:39","slug":"chapter-5-informed-and-well-supported-mothers","status":"publish","type":"come-comincia-vita","link":"https:\/\/babywellnessfoundation.org\/en\/come-comincia-vita\/chapter-5-informed-and-well-supported-mothers\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 5 \u2013 Informed and Well-Supported Mothers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Access to accurate knowledge<\/strong> and to counseling<\/strong> that respects personal choices<\/strong> has concrete<\/strong> and measurable effects on the health of the expectant woman and her unborn child<\/strong>. Evidence shows that future mothers who receive proper information from healthcare professionals and are involved in decisions about pregnancy management are less likely to undergo cesarean delivery, more likely to start breastfeeding early \u2014 within 2 hours of birth \u2014 to continue it for longer \u2014 over 5 months \u2014 and are less likely to need to bring their babies to the hospital for any reason during the first year of life (17).<\/p>\n

In an era where pregnant women are overwhelmed by alarming messages of all kinds, fake news, and unsolicited interference, evidence-based information becomes a valuable health promotion tool \u2014 a tool that, according to the Guidelines for Physiological Pregnancy Care published by the Istituto Superiore di Sanit\u00e0, helps future mothers \u201cmake informed choices based on their needs and preferences, after discussing them with the professionals assisting them.\u201d
\nIt is in this way that the woman becomes an active protagonist of pregnancy and childbirth: healthcare professionals inform, accompany, and advise her, but the decisions are hers.<\/p>\n

Who are the professionals who support future mothers during pregnancy? In Italy, 66% of women rely on private gynecologists, 17.5% on public hospital staff, and 16.4% on staff from local family counseling centers (18). All of them value continuity \u2014 the chance to be followed during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum by the same person, with whom a relationship of trust is established. And in fact, continuity is also beneficial to health, according to the World Health Organization (19). It is associated with a lower incidence of hospitalizations during pregnancy, less frequent use of vacuum extraction during birth, higher breastfeeding rates, and greater maternal satisfaction (20).<\/p>\n

In addition to being continuous, care <\/strong>must be essere differentiated based on risk<\/strong>, that is, it must include a path of tests and medical interventions that differs depending on whether the pregnancy is physiological or complicated by conditions or risks. Managing all pregnancies as though they were high-risk, in the name of the precautionary principle, leads to unjustified expenses \u2014 often borne by the woman \u2014 and a higher likelihood of inappropriate, unnecessary, or even harmful interventions.<\/p>\n

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