The pregnant women will do a series of medical tests in order to prevent fetal malformations. This is stipulated in a new national program worked out by the Ministry of Health. Specialists say there are now serious difficulties in early and prenatally diagnosing congenital malformations and hereditary pathology.

Under the program, the pregnant women will do a prenatal biochemical test during the first two quarters of the pregnancy in order to determine the Down syndrome, spina bifida and other chromosomal anomalies. This test is done between the tenth week and the thirteenth week of pregnancy. It consists of ecography and a blood test.

Another required medical examination is the fetal ecographic screening done in the first quarter of the pregnancy, between the eleventh week and the fourteenth week. It helps detects congenital malformations and chromosomal abnormalities.

The program also envisions doing fetal morphology through ultrasonographic screening during the 18th-21st week of the pregnancy in order to identify the major risk group for congenital malformations caused by sporadic mutations. This test is done by high-resolution apparatus.

In 1994, the newborn screening for congenital hypothyroidism was halted and specialists now recommend restoring it given that Moldova is situated in an endemic area with iodine deficit and that the development disorders caused by this disease are rather serious.

Currently, a low number of congenital malformations can be corrected by surgery postnatally. The rate of congenital malformations in Moldova over the last decade has been high. These malformations are the second leading cause of child mortality. About 700 such cases are recorded in Moldova annually.