Almost half of under-15 mothers in the EU are from Romania, new statistics reveal
New statistics from Save the Children Romania reveal an alarming reality. At least almost half of the mothers under the age of 15 in the European Union nations are Romanian (45%), especially from the counties of Mureș, Bihor, Dolj, and Brașov.
According to the same survey, at least 32% of the young mothers say that their mothers were also minors when they gave birth to them, propelling the relentless intergenerational chain and passing it down from one generation to another even further. 20% of them even have more than one child.
“These are dramatic cases, which reflect the reality of a country where many localities do not have a doctor, girls do not have access to education and medical services, and poverty shows its teeth at every step. Their fragile bodies often cannot withstand carrying a pregnancy to the end and then they give birth prematurely, and the newborn's life is at risk,” says the NGO.
In some cases, many pregnant women could not even benefit from family doctors, especially in rural areas, which exposes them to risks of infant mortality. At least half of Romanian localities do not have enough family doctors to provide residents with pregnancy care, according to the National Federation of Associations of Family Doctors data.
Most young mothers are also deprived of their formal education, with a worrying degree of disinformation.
Two years ago, the National Institute of Statistics carried out a survey and revealed that at least 80% of young mothers have never used contraceptive methods because "they did not have information about their use." 4 out of 5 of them drop out of formal education before pregnancy, and one of them at least has never gone to school at all. The average income is only RON 1,160, and only 20% of them have an income above RON 2,000.
(Photo source: Salvati Copiii Romania)
