Riva and Limone Births Highlight Transportation and Isolation Challenges
Riva and Limone: so close, yet so far away. Certainly a rarely original statement, especially in this period, but this time we will not talk about the problems faced by tourist operators or commuters or students. Today, we write about two newborns. Two babies just a few days old who had to confront the hardships caused by the fragility of Rocchetta even before being born: Matteo Risatti and Rossella Vela, the first Limone residents born in 2001 and, along with their mothers, “prisoners” of Riva.
Birth stories and times past
Stories from other times, theirs, from when transportation was by carts and no one spoke of the Internet or the global village. The first to be born was Matteo Risatti: at 1:58 on Friday morning, his cries filled the delivery room of Riva hospital, and knowing his story, one might think they were cries of protest. The big baby (3.960 kg), in fact, was born a few days earlier than planned.
“It was an induced delivery,” explains his mother, Francesca Tosi, 32 years old from Limone, “because his arrival was scheduled for the end of this month. Given the situation and the difficulty of transportation links, however, the Rivano doctors preferred to proceed with early delivery, a few hours after I arrived at the hospital with contractions. These days in Riva, just when I would have liked to be with my husband Marco and my family, I was practically alone: everyone was working and could only reach me in the evening by boat.” But the worries will not stop even once Francesca returns home with her chubby second-born, Matteo.
“Exactly so,” she explains, “in a few days I will go back home, but the problems certainly won’t be resolved. I wonder what could happen if, suddenly, especially at night, the little one needs medical attention. Limone is isolated! Perhaps it’s better not to think about it… ”
Other mothers’ experiences
The story is even more touching of Carla Bettanini, a thirty-year-old mother of Rossella. “I can’t wait to go back to Limone,” she exclaims, “because I really can’t take it anymore.” Exaggerated? No: Carla has been in Riva since December 12, when she arrived at the Obstetrics and Gynecology ward with contractions. “The doctors decided to keep me for tests and I stayed here until December 31.”
However, the baby could have arrived at any moment, so as a precaution, my husband Vincenzo and I decided to rent an apartment in Riva. He, a security guard in Tignale, would go up in the evening and leave early in the morning for work while I stayed here.” All alone and with terrible longing. “Terrible indeed,” reveals Carla, “so much so that during the days I was outside the ward, I would go to Piazza Catena to watch my fellow townspeople disembarking from the ferry or setting sail for Limone. With a lump in my throat, naturally. Then, I would visit my friends here in the hospital, where there is a warm family atmosphere and the medical and paramedical staff are simply fantastic.” On Monday the 15th, however, she couldn’t resist any longer and took the boat to Limone: a quick round-trip, but a farewell. Then Carla returned to the hospital and on Saturday morning, at 9:44, Rossella (the firstborn, 2.777 kg) arrived, who, we imagine, has a great desire to see her home. Just like her mother.
“It was truly horrible,” she recounts, “because the other women were always surrounded by relatives while I…” Emotions overwhelm Carla: these have been sad weeks, even if the arrival of Rossella erased the nostalgia, difficulties, suffering, and expenses (not very romantic, but there were some and significant). Instead, the stories of these two mothers from other times remain in their chilling anachronism.”
Riva del Garda, January 23rd of the year of Our Lord 2001.