New draft bill encourages future mothers in Romania to go to prenatal consultations

Pregnant women in Romania who go to prenatal consultations may get material aid from the state, namely clothing items and care products for the baby, according to a draft bill submitted to the Senate. The legislative proposal aims to encourage future mothers to go to these consultations during pregnancy. The value of the clothes and care products is of RON 500, according to Avocatnet.ro. According to the proposal, this state aid will be granted only once for each newborn. The initiators say that, in Romania, only one of three pregnant women goes to prenatal consultations during pregnancy. However, to come into force, this bill has to be voted by both chambers of the Parliament, namely the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, signed by the president, and published in the Official Gazette. Another bill targeting mothers in Romania has recently passed the Senate, namely the one on breastfeeding in public spaces. The draft bill sanctions with fines the eviction from a public place of the mother and child, any kind of ban on breastfeeding in public spaces, or the refusal to provide services to a person because the mother breastfeeds her baby. However, it also sets a 24-month age limit, about which local NGO Save the Children Romania said it’s discriminatory. Bucharest’s General Council approved in late-March two projects aimed at increasing the birth rate in the city. One of them provides a EUR 3,000 financial support to couples who want to undergo in-vitro fertilization while the second one aims to help pregnant women cover the costs of their medical tests and screening during pregnancy. Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com