Homeless woman gives birth on cardboard box outside Vatican - gets offer of home for one year

A homeless woman gave birth on a cardboard box just outside St. Peter’s Square early on Wednesday in near-freezing temperatures and later received an offer of one year’s hospitality in a Vatican institution.

Police said the 35-year-old Romanian woman had gone into labour at about 2.30 a.m. in an Italian square just metres (yards) away from the Vatican.

An Italian policewoman, Maria Capone, helped deliver the baby, a girl, and her colleagues covered both with their jackets until an ambulance arrived.

“I think it was close to zero,” Capone told Italian television.

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“The baby regained colour on her face after we covered her,” another policeman said.