Tania is 30 years old and Marco is almost 37. Last Friday, 10 July, they became parents to Matteo, born in the evening, a bit in the hustle and bustle of a labor that started with the best intentions and ended in an emergency caesarean section because the little one was tachycardic, where the real difference was made by the possibility offered by the Abano Polyclinic of Abano Terme for the father to be able to stay in bed in the room with the mother for the first night. When we reach Marco and Tania they are veterans of the first night at home in which Matteo practically never slept…
Marco, what did being part of the “first half” mean to you?
«I was an active part from the start, not just the dad who brings the soppressa sandwich to the mom every day to satisfy the nine-month-old’s cravings. I was overjoyed with this possibility, it was fantastic. Of course, then, Tania instinctively has more manual skills than me but seeing what the midwives did, hearing the maneuvers explained to her in order to give her support was fantastic and very useful, I felt part of everything too.”
And for mother Tania?
«I was surprised by the outcry of the news because it should be a normal thing. And yet it’s not normal because, above all, mothers do it alone in the hospital on their first night even if they are very tired or, as in my case, fresh from a caesarean section with stitches that are tight and the wound that hurts when you move.”
Marco, how did you help yourself?
«I relieved her, if she had colic I held her in my arms and made her walk, being there allowed her to sleep… and me to learn everything there is to know in the first hours of life».
Because with the first child everything is new…
Tania: «Everything. I have to learn but so does he and the beautiful thing is that, in doing so, the midwives taught both of us, not me who then explained to him. We learned together and it was beautiful.”
Marco: «It’s very useful, I saw it last night when Matteo never slept a wink… But even in the hospital when Tania had to breastfeed and even just turn around and pick up the baby from the cradle it was difficult. Faced with so many women who go into postpartum depression, I think that the father’s presence is fundamental, in this way – being able to be there from the first night – he has an active role.”
The gain for the couple of being able to be together from the first night is precisely this and the professor also confirms it Giancluca Straface, Head of Obstetrics at the Polyclinic: «Earnings are important. Our choice comes from the evidence that society is changing and couples are changing. Since the family network that once existed was missing, of uncles, grandparents and relatives, and couples are now much more alone, we wanted to ensure that the mother already had her husband by her side from the first minutes. Concrete help from both a practical and psychological point of view because the first hours after giving birth are challenging, beautiful and decisive moments.”
It is said that postpartum is the most difficult, delicate moment in a woman’s life…
«It’s like this and that’s why it’s important to have your husband by your side. Then the other aspect was to also give the father the opportunity to enjoy the baby’s first hours, among the most beautiful moments you can experience without the thought of having to go home and then come back the next day.”
A choice you have made that also enhances the idea of a family unit from the beginning.
«Dad was once a bit marginalised, mum had to do everything. Instead, now fathers are much more involved and that concept of family, of triad is created which is truly the added value.”
Dad Marco was thrilled to have received “the instruction booklet” for his little one.
«And this is the other great objective: that both parents are able to manage the newborn. For this reason we have decided to continue the support at home too, with midwives who go home to support couples for the first few days. 360 degree support for the mother and the entire family.”
Last but not least, do everything with the national health system.
«Absolutely yes, paid rooms no longer exist. We have free rooms for everyone because the hospital that supported us, the administration that supported us by believing in this project, moved our department to a much larger environment and therefore today we have many rooms available in which to host mothers and fathers for free.”
