Stefania Barrili is fine. She is the mother of Elio, the baby born last Friday in the closed ward of the Nostra Signora della Mercede hospital in Lanusei. "They saved our lives." She says this with her heart in her hand, the 41-year-old woman from Tortolì, who has not yet been able to cuddle her second-born. The three-kilogram bundle, immediately after the birth that occurred in extreme emergency, was transferred by helicopter to the Policlinico in Monserrato. Mother and son are separated by 140 kilometers. A distance that has become customary for three years when a new creature comes into the world in Lanusei.
Stefania is still hospitalized in Lanusei . Last Friday she arrived by ambulance at the emergency room. She was bleeding. A critical condition that did not allow transfers to other facilities. The team was quickly assembled and the woman was taken to the operating room. 360 seconds passed from her admission to the birth of Elio. A flash. The risk that complications, even dramatic ones, could arise was extremely high. The professionalism and promptness of the healthcare personnel were determining factors. "It is with great emotion that I would like to extend infinite thanks to all the staff at the Lanusei hospital who saved my life and that of my son on Friday. The professionalism, promptness and dedication of these extraordinary professionals allow me to tell this story today."
Stefania Barrili can now say she is a happy woman. The fear is behind her. It is the same that other mothers detained in emergency in Lanusei have experienced, even though births are prohibited in these parts. At least in a situation of ordinary administration. " Now that the emergency is over, what remains is a closed birth center and consequently a mother who has not yet been able to hold her baby in her arms, just a few days old, due to the "assessments" that the Region has been doing for over three years", she says. "What other emergencies will the women of Ogliastra have to face before the Region takes on the responsibility of protecting their right to health, or more simply to life?"
She offers her testimony as other mothers have done before. But fathers have also taken sides. This is the case of Andrea Murru, municipal councilor of Bari Sardo, who last December with his wife Alessia experienced an ordeal in the hours before the birth of their daughter Nora. From her hospital bed, Stefania launches an appeal to the heads of regional health: «Here they sacrifice themselves and save lives, but it can't always go well. The women of Ogliastra have the right to give birth here: reopen the birth center». A right also claimed by Marcello Ladu, mayor of Tortolì: «The birth center of Lanusei must be reopened without further delay».