When you hear of a homeless woman giving birth out in the street, your first thought tends to be of her health and that of her baby, and your second is ‘what happens to them now?’
It seems accommodation is one less thing that this 35-year-old Romanian woman has to worry about going forward, after giving birth to a daughter outside the Vatican this week.
The unnamed woman, who along with her partner is homeless, is reported to have gone into labour at about 2.30am on Wednesday morning in St Peter’s Square.
She is said to have given birth to a daughter on a cardboard box, with members of police attending the scene describing the temperatures as “close to zero”.
Italian policewoman Maria Capone helped to deliver the child, a girl, wrapping her up in her jacket to keep her warm until an ambulance arrived. The baby is said to have “regained her colour” after being covered with the jacket.
After the birth, the new mother and her child were visited in hospital by the head of the Pope’s charity office, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, who recognised the woman and her partner from their use of Vatican shower and food services, which have become a lifeline for homeless people in the community.
The Archbishop went on to extend an invitation to the woman and her family for one year’s hospitality in a Church-owned apartment.
While this offer will undoubtedly give this little baby a positive start in life, let’s hope that it will also mark the beginning of positive things to come for this family.
