Newborns are abandoned most often by young mothers

Poverty and fear of parents are the reasons for which some of the girls abandon their children after giving birth to them. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Tatiana Codreanu, coordinator for abandonment prevention at the NGO “Child, Community, Family,” said that most often the newborns are abandoned by studying mothers or by girls who graduate from boarding schools and who have neither home nor money to raise the child. The organization tries to help the girls who graduated from boarding schools by renting dwellings for them for the first four months after they give birth. After this period, the mother must look for a job, while the child is given to a social crèche, where they can stay throughout the day up to the age of three. “These girls are not prepared for family life, cannot cope, do not have where to stay, didn’t have a model of family and thus consider that the child must be brought up in an institution,” said Tatiana Codreanu. Another reason for abandonment is the fact that the children are born with disabilities. Tatiana Codreanu said many mothers abandon the children when they find out about the disability they have. That’s why the maternity hospitals have by a psychologist and social assistant who work with the pregnant women and the mothers who just gave birth. Rodica Moraru, head of the Labor Ministry’s Family and Child Rights Protection Division, said that some of the maternity hospitals have maternal centers designed to prevent child abandonment. “Protection is ensured for the mother and child in order to prevent abandonment,” said the Ministry’s representative. The centers can also accommodate women in the last months of pregnancy. Domestic violence is another cause for abandonment. According to the National Health Management Center, 95 children were abandoned last year, 19 of whom in maternity hospitals, while 76 in hospitals.