The autonomous province of Bolzano is Italy's most "mum-friendly" area, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Italian section of Save the Children, followed by the regions of Emilia Romagna and Valle D'Aosta. It said the least friendly region for mums was the Basilicata in southern Italy.

Save the Children said it compiled the ranking in the basis of a variety of indicators for mothers, including the labour-market situation, health care, public services, female representation, violence and surveys of satisfaction levels, from statistics provided by a several national agencies.