Moldovan maternities report higher number of live-born babies

The number of neonates born alive in 2007 was 37,973, which is by 387 more than in 2006, with a birth rate of 10 live-born babies per 1,000 of population. Birth rates in rural areas remain higher than in urban areas, standing at 11.6 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively, Info-Prim Neo reports, citing the National Statistics Bureau. More than a half (51.7 percent) of the live-born children were boys, with the male-to-female ratio standing at 107 to 100. From legal viewpoint, the rate of babies born outside of wedlock was in 2007 down to 22.7 percent from 23.3 percent in 2006. A persisting tendency is the decreasing number of children born to mothers younger than 20 years – 11.3 percent of the total number of live-born neonates – compared to 13 percent in 2006 and 16.9 percent in 2000. The average age of mothers at first birth was 22.8 years for 2007. Rural mothers give birth to their first child at a younger age (22.1 years) than urban ones (24 years).