ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights a study conducted in the Italian context and focused, in particular, on two survey units in southern Italy. The Italian context is considered particularly significant because of the alarmingly high and inappropriate rates of cesarean section and, therefore, the pushed medicalization of childbirth. Through the construction of a clinical and extra-clinical dataset, variables related to the mode of childbirth were analyzed, and some useful determinants were identified for a redesign of the birth path capable of inspiring more conscious and rational choices.
