Working mother MEP takes baby to parliament

Image caption, Sleeping on the job: Baby Vittoria dozes while her MEP mother Licia Ronzulli votes

An Italian MEP attended a European Parliament session in Strasbourg carrying her baby in a sling.

Licia Ronzulli says she wanted to make a point about the difficulties women face in trying to juggle careers and child care.

MEPs were debating proposals to improve women's employment rights and opportunities.

One-month-old Vittoria appeared to sleep throughout the proceedings.

Mrs Ronzulli, an MEP for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party, got a round of applause as she got up to speak.

She told fellow parliamentarians: "I would like to see more commitment on these issues from European institutions, to begin with the European Parliament so that we can all lead these two lives well."