In a heartwarming event, Pagliara dei Marsi, a small village in Abruzzo, Italy, recently welcomed its first baby in nearly three decades. The arrival of Lara Bussi Trabucco is a dream come true for her parents, Cinzia Trabucco and Paolo Bussi. More importantly, it stands as a testament of hope against the tide of Italy’s long-term demographic disaster. Nationally, birthrate in 2024 reached a historic low of only 369,944 births and a total fertility rate of only 1.18 children per woman. Lara’s arrival is cause for hope among communities affected by an ageing population and declining school enrollments.
Her birth has given everyone in the village, especially Lara’s parents, a glimpse of hope. Today, it’s happier than ever with a population of just 20 citizens. This event is particularly remarkable given Italy’s long-term demographic woes. Down 16 years in a row for 16 consecutive years, the birthrate has been dropping. The Pagliara dei Marsi community is served by the maternity unit in Sulmona. In 2024, it had just 120 deliveries, a dramatic plummet from the 500 deliveries it needed to attract a critical stream of funding. If this unit is forced to close, expectant mothers will likely need to be sent to L’Aquila, the regional capital, for treatment and care. That should raise alarms in emergencies.
Italy’s demographic crisis presents unprecedented challenges to public finances and social fabric. It is a landscape marked by an aging demographic that promises to soon hollow out school houses and leave communities in the dust. Abruzzo, as you might expect, experienced a dramatic drop-off in births. Between January and July 2025, the area had seen a 10.2% decrease compared to the same time frame in 2024. These local officials know the clock is ticking.
“Pagliara dei Marsi has been suffering from drastic depopulation, exacerbated by the loss of many elderly people, without any generational turnover,” – Giuseppina Perozzi.
This crisis has led Berta Gambina, head of the maternity unit in Sulmona, to voice alarm about the falling birth rates.
“Even in the best of times, we averaged about 380 births a year. But I will do all I can to keep it open – my biggest fear is abandoning pregnant women,” – Berta Gambina.
Despite financial incentives aimed at encouraging births, including a €1,000 “baby bonus” and a monthly child benefit payment of approximately €370 for Lara’s family, many argue that more comprehensive support is necessary. Ornella La Civita, a longtime city councillor in Sulmona, presented the shortfalls of Italy’s childcare support system as all bark and no bite.
“But how can you give women money to have babies but not guarantee them a safe and secure place to give birth?” – Ornella La Civita.
Researcher Cinzia Trabucco took to Twitter to amplify these concerns. She claimed that we need to dramatically change the system to support families and keep them safe while giving birth.
“The entire system needs to be revolutionised,” – Cinzia Trabucco.
In response to Italy’s ongoing demographic crisis, policy conversations in favor of reproductive health and family planning have resurged as a priority. Despite the growing prominence of these issues in our national birthrate debate, the issue of fertility preservation, including egg freezing, is surprisingly absent from the discussion.
As filmmaker and activist Gianluca Di Luigi discovered, the risks that pregnant women in Pagliara dei Marsi face are grave. Read his full statement regarding the deplorable travel conditions they have to endure.
“The region is vast and especially in winter, travel conditions can be treacherous,” – Gianluca Di Luigi.
He told us a harrowing tale of a pregnant woman. In the end, she had to have an emergency caesarean. She experienced delays reaching the hospital.
“By the time we got her to the hospital, we had to do an emergency caesarean. This was her first child and she was traumatised by the whole experience,” – Gianluca Di Luigi.
Since Lara’s birth, Pagliara dei Marsi has become the center of media attention. Visitors from near and far are making a pilgrimage to witness this monumental occasion. Her family recalled that travelers who had never even heard of their remote village traveled there specifically to rejoice in this remarkable event.
“People who didn’t even know Pagliara dei Marsi existed have come, only because they had heard about Lara,” – Cinzia Trabucco.