ABANDONED BY THEIR MOTHERS

By: Alex Pintea

More than 50 children were abandoned since the beginning of the year in the Municipal Hospital. Only 30 of these managed to be re-integrated in their families, while the rest fell under the system of child protection. The highest rate of abandonment was registered in the neonatology section and the principle cause is the economic situation of the mothers. Many of them are very young and do not have much schooling.

The phenomenon of abandonment is growing in the city of Medias. Since the beginning of this year, more than 50 children were abandoned in the hospital by their mothers. In about 20 of these cases, re-integration into the birth family did not take place and thus these children fell under the system of child protection. Valeria Guliman, social worker for the Medias City Hospital, explained that, "In general these mothers come from very poor conditions where they have been rejected by their own families. Another cause of these abandonments is the limited schooling of these mothers."

EMPHASIS ON PREVENTION

At the Medias City Hospital, people are working very hard to prevent these abandonments. The medical teams from the neonatology unit as well as the pediatric unit, together with social workers, are making an effort to convince these mothers that they do not need to abandon their children. From the moment the mothers are admitted, attempts are made to determine whether she is at risk to abandon the child. For example: A person who is admitted and does not have any acts of identity or who is not accompanied by someone in the family immediately attracts the attention of these authorities. "At that point, the social worker is alerted and the mother is admitted to a program of counseling," said Valeria Guliman.

ALARMING STATISTICS

In 2005, a total of 54 children were abandoned at the Medias City Hospital. This year, the number of children abandoned by their mothers has already passed 50.