The tests the public system covers, the windows that do not come back, and the deadlines that cost money if you miss them. With the official source under each one.
full — Italy
Tests, exemptions and deadlines, each from the national source.
We are not a local edition: we say that a thing exists and that it has a date, in the words you will need at the counter — then we send you to the body that decides.
Exempt tests are free only if the prescription carries the code M followed by the week of pregnancy — M01 to M41, and M00 before conception. It is written by the doctor, not by you: if it is missing, the counter charges you, and it cannot be fixed afterwards. Ask for it before you leave the surgery.
Nuchal translucency can only be measured between 11+0 and 13+6: once that window closes it cannot be recovered. Cell-free DNA testing (NIPT) is a different test and is not covered nationally in Italy.
Performed between 19+0 and 21+0. The exemption window runs to 23+6.
At 28 weeks it is planned for everyone, not only if you are Rh negative.
The swab is taken between weeks 36 and 37.
If toxoplasmosis is negative it is repeated every 4-6 weeks throughout pregnancy; rubella, if negative, is repeated by week 17.
Nationally it is listed for women with risk factors, but many care pathways offer it anyway: if your doctor suggests it, that is their clinical call.
From week 41 these are among the exempt services.
This is the minimum guaranteed across Italy. Since 2024 some regions have added services: yours may cover more, never less.
Source: DPCM 12 gennaio 2017 «nuovi LEA», Allegato 10B — Gazzetta Ufficiale S.O. n. 15 alla Serie Generale n. 65 del 18/03/2017 · re-read Aug 21, 2026
Your doctor sends it, not you: it must be a public-health or affiliated doctor, and it must go before your leave starts. Ask for the certificate number. Without it, the leave application cannot be processed.
Source: INPS — circolare 82/2017 · art. 21 D.Lgs. 151/2001 · re-read Aug 28, 2026
Ten working days at full pay, twenty for twins. They can be taken from two months before the due date until five months after the birth, but must be requested in writing at least five days ahead. After five months they are gone.
Source: art. 27-bis e 29 D.Lgs. 151/2001 · INPS circolare 122/2022 · re-read Aug 28, 2026
Three days at the hospital, or ten at the town hall — either where the baby was born or where you live. There is no fine for being late, but the record becomes a “late” one: you must explain why, and it is reported to the public prosecutor. The thing that really matters is different: if the father does not acknowledge the child there and then, doing it later needs the mother's consent — and without it, a judge.
Source: art. 30 e 31 DPR 396/2000 · art. 250 Codice civile · re-read Aug 28, 2026
A one-off payment of €1,000, subject to an income (ISEE) threshold. The claim must be filed within 120 days of the birth, or the right lapses: after that there is no way back. In 2025 the window was 60 days, so a lot of what you'll read elsewhere is out of date.
Source: INPS — Bonus nuovi nati · circolare 45/2026 · re-read Aug 28, 2026
If you already receive the allowance, the new baby must be reported within 120 days: inside that window the back-payments start from the seventh month of pregnancy, outside they are lost. If this is your first claim a different rule applies — filed by 30 June, it runs from March.
Source: art. 6 D.Lgs. 230/2021 · re-read Aug 28, 2026
Three months per couple are paid at 80% instead of 30%, but only if taken before the child's sixth birthday, and only within each parent's non-transferable share. The leave itself can be used until the child is fourteen: it is the higher rate that expires sooner, and that is the part worth money. Employees only.
Source: art. 34 D.Lgs. 151/2001 · INPS circolare 95/2025 · re-read Aug 28, 2026
the paperwork, in the right order
The tests of a physiological pregnancy, trimester by trimester — the part that is nearly the same everywhere.
The tests, trimester by trimester →General information, not legal or medical advice. Rules change: the date next to each source is the day a person last re-read it. For your own case, the body named on the page is the one that answers.
In the app the same deadlines arrive as a reminder, counted from your own due date.
mamma&me