This article, a chapter of a study on the social aspects of childbirth (Colombo et al., 1984) follows the expectant mother on her journey through the maternity ward, from admission to release. Three features characterize this journey: medicalization, desexualizazion and deper sonalization. The journey is represented as a drama with a beginning, a climax, and an end, presented in the following scenes. Prologue: conferring the role of patient; Epilogue: purification and resexualization (postdelivery procedures and release). The phases in the unfolding of the drama are defined by the medical procedures employed. The social and anthropological analysis of these procedures set forth in this article is based on direct observation in a number of Italian hospitals.