Deep crisis: the "Save the Children" appeal to combat infant mortality

The "Save the Children" Romania association is launching an appeal to the business community to support the endowment of maternity hospitals and newborn wards, in a context in which statistics indicate an alarming increase in pregnancies at very young ages and associated risks for both mothers and newborns. The organization requests that 20% of the profit tax be directed, through the legal mechanism, towards the purchase of essential equipment to combat infant mortality.

The data analyzed by the organization for 2024 show a worrying reality: over 6,000 girls under 18 became mothers, and a tenth of them were not even 15 years old. The situation is aggravated by the fact that more than half of the children born to mothers under 15 years of age - 61.43% - do not have recognized paternity, which increases the social and economic vulnerability of families.

"Save the Children" draws attention to the fact that the extremely low age of mothers massively increases the risk of giving birth to a child with low birth weight. The probability that a newborn will face this problem rises from 8.11% among adult mothers to 18.77% in the case of those under 15 years of age. One of the main causes is the lack of prenatal check-ups: 37.2% of mothers under 15 years of age did not benefit from any medical check-ups before giving birth; the national average is 19.27%, according to INS data; in 2024 alone, 586 births were recorded to girls under 15 years of age, out of a total of 6,117 births to minor mothers. The situation confirms a fragile system, in which prevention and access to essential medical services are severely limited for vulnerable categories. In the period 2019-2023, 38,865 births took place in Romania among minor mothers, of which 3,614 to girls under 15 years of age. These figures place the country in the critical area of Europe, and some trends statistically bring it closer to states in Africa or Asia. The "Save the Children 2024” report highlights an intergenerational problem: 1 in 3 girls who are today mothers or pregnant minors became pregnant for the first time around the age of 15 or earlier; over a third of them had partners at least 5 years older; 1 in 3 has a mother who, in turn, gave birth before the age of 18. Romania records 34 births per 1,000 teenage girls, a level exceeded in Europe only by Bulgaria (36.8) and Georgia (38.3). Almost half (45%) of births to girls under 15 in the EU are registered in Romania - an indicator of a systemic social problem. By contrast, Denmark - the first country in the world to introduce compulsory sex education in schools, since 1930 - has a rate more than eight times lower than Romania (2017 data). The organization's data show that Romania continues to occupy a worrying position at European level in terms of infant mortality: 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to the EU average of 3.3; in rural areas the rate rises to 6.6, well above the urban level (4.6). The poor equipment of rural clinics and maternity wards, the lack of doctors, limited access to transport, medicines and information are the main causes. "There are multiple problems, from legal and social protection issues to access to medical services," says Gabriela Alexandrescu, executive president of the organization, highlighting the situation of young women under 15 who give birth in poorly equipped medical facilities.

In the last 15 years, "Save the Children" has equipped 135 medical facilities, neonatology, neonatal intensive care, pediatrics and obstetrics-gynecology departments - in all counties of the country. The total investment exceeds 17 million euros.