Bashkiria authorities discussed additional measures to increase birth rate

At the House of the Republic, the Head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, held a working meeting to discuss additional systemic measures to increase the birth rate.

“We have developed several measures aimed at supporting the birth rate in the republic, identified problematic issues, and determined the outline of our subsequent actions. It is necessary to think about what else we can do in this direction”, Radiy Khabirov said.

According to the Minister of Family, Labor, and Social Protection RB Lenara Ivanova, Bashkortostan maintains a higher level of the total fertility rate (the number of children born by one woman) than in Russia and the Volga Federal District as a whole.

“For 2020, this figure was 1.525 births per woman aged 15-49 years. For comparison: in Russia - 1.505 births, in the Volga Federal District - 1.437 births,” Lenara Ivanova noted. “Therefore, despite a slight decrease in the number of births of first-born children, the number of third and subsequent children increased by nine percent.

Also, a decrease in the number of divorces affects the improvement of the demographic situation. Last year, their number declined by 5.4 percent compared to the pre-pandemic 2019. In total, 41,180 children were born in Bashkortostan in 2020. This is 1.4 percent less than a year earlier.

Pre-abortion counseling of women who are making a decision to maintain or terminate a pregnancy and their psychological support also play an important role in increasing the birth rate.

“Thanks to this work, last year it was possible to reduce the number of abortions by 15 percent compared to 2019,” Maxim Zabelin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health of Bashkortostan, informed. “Thus, we were able to save 1,601 new lives.”

The experiment in issuing a certificate of preschool education, which started in Bashkortostan in 2019, has also proved its relevance. As part of this program, private kindergartens receive state funding in the amount of 6 thousand rubles per month per child, and parents pay the usual fee, as in municipal preschool institutions.

“At the end of 2020, 1,059 certificates were issued. This year we plan to issue almost 2,000 more certificates”, the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Bashkortostan Aybulat Khazhin said.

Based on the results of opinion polls carried out in maternity hospitals of the republic, the Head of Bashkortostan instructed to prepare proposals for organizing vitamin nutrition for pregnant women, creating online courses for expectant and young mothers.