Occupational risks are often underestimated in midwifery. It is not commonly known that occupational risks were originally described by the Italian physician Bernardino Ramazzini (1633-1714) at the beginning of the 18th century. Our aim was to describe occupational risks in midwifery from Ramazzini to modern times. The original text by Bernardino Ramazzini was analyzed. A review of modern scientific articles on occupational risks in midwifery was conducted. Ramazzini identified two major occupational risks in midwifery: infections and awkward postures. Modern literature seems to agree with his considerations, focusing on infection, use of universal protection and personal protective equipment, and musculoskeletal problems. Modern studies also evidenced posttraumatic stress disorder that was probably postulated by Ramazzini himself. The poor number of articles in literature on midwives' occupational risks shows a lack of interest toward this issue. Prevention should therefore be emphasized in this field, so high-quality studies on occupational risks in midwifery are needed.

The most recent WHO recommendations "Intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience" highlight the need to identify women-centered interventions and outcomes for intrapartum care, and to include service users' experiences and qualitative research into the assessment of maternity care. Babies Born Better (B3) is a trans-European survey designed to capture service user views and experiences of maternity care provision. Italian service users contributed to the survey. The B3 Survey is an anonymous, mixed-method online survey, translated into 22 languages. We separated out the Italian responses and analyzed them using computer-assisted qualitative software (MAXQDA) and SPSS and STATA for quantitative data analysis. Simple descriptives were used for the numeric data, and content analysis for the qualitative responses. Geomapping was based on the coded qualitative data and postcodes (using Tableau Public). There were 1000 respondents from every region of Italy, using a range of places of birth (hospital, birth center, home) and experiencing care with both midwives and obstetricians. Most identified positive experiences of care, as well as some practices they would like to change. Both positive and critical comments included provision of care based on the type of providers, clinical procedures, the birth environment, and breastfeeding support. There were clear differences in the geomapped data across Italian regions. Mothers highly value respectful, skilled and loving care that gives them a strong sense of personal achievement and confidence, and birth environments that support this. There was distinct variation in the percentage of positive comments made across Italian regions.

Introduction: Laboring women’s ability to cope with pain is likely to be dependent on a variety of inter-related factors, including the level of pain intensity, the nature of the environment and the perceived support. The aim of this systematic review was therefore to explore coping...