According to data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS), more and more newborns, infants and unborn children die in Poland. Last year, for the first time since the 90s, the downward trend in this category was overcome. According to experts, this is the aftermath of a controversial judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal (CT) regarding the embryopathological premise, but also the COVID-19 pandemic and the deteriorating general health of women in Poland.
- In 2021, 1,3 thousand people died in the first year of life. kids. Although it is “only” 3,9 per mille of all births, it disturbs the downward trend observed in Poland since the 90s.
- The number of newborn deaths on the first day after birth is also increasing – the rate was recently 1,28 per thousand births. For comparison, in 2020 it was 1,08
- Doctors also record more stillbirths and miscarriages, and these numbers are consistent with the increase in the number of deaths in the youngest children.
- Experts associate this phenomenon with the fact that most deceased newborns and infants were born with lethal (fatal) defects
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Disturbing statistics
“The trend itself is disturbing, both for newborns who die immediately after birth and for infants who die in the first year of life” – comments Dr. hab. med. Ewa Helwich from the Institute of Mother and Child, national consultant in the field of neonatology.
«Each of these indicators is higher than in the previous few years. Although the figures do not show colossal year-to-year differences, because the share of fetuses with an irreversible, lethal defect in the total number of pregnancies is not large. But it is also a result of the fact that the number of deliveries is falling. So what counts is the number of such cases per thousand births»- he adds.
According to data from the Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS), the death rate of children with lethal defects who die shortly after childbirth (in the first 1,28 hours after birth) was 2020 per thousand births last year. In 1,08 it was 1,18, and a year earlier it was 2021. The change is also visible in the number of child deaths in the first year of life – 1,3 thousand died in XNUMX. babies. This is still less than a few decades ago, but when we look at the graph showing the dynamics, it is a clear disturbance of the downward trend.
The higher mortality does not only concern born children, but also the unborn. The number of stillbirths and miscarriages has increased (they are said to be up to the 22nd week of pregnancy).
“In 2019, we had about 100 spoonfuls a year, last year – already about 140. There are also more dead pregnant patients, when it is necessary to induce a miscarriage” – says Dr. Grzegorz Świercz, head of the gynecology and obstetrics clinic at the Provincial Complex Hospital in Kielce.
Guilty new law?
According to experts quoted by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna Two phenomena are to blame for the disturbing trend: the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal on abortion and the COVID-19 pandemic, which clearly limited access to specialists and extended the waiting time for diagnostic tests.
“I recalculated the average number of abortions in previous years for“ severe and irreversible damage to the fetus ”against the total number of deliveries. It is about Art. 4a, point 2 of the 1993 Act, which was abolished after the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal. It turned out that it was a ratio between 0,2 and 0,3 per mille »- says prof. Krzysztof Preis, head of the Department of Obstetrics, Women’s Diseases and Oncological Gynecology of the Provincial Complex Hospital in Toruń, who analyzed data from the Pomeranian Province.
From the calculations of prof. The preisa shows that this rate is consistent with the infant mortality rate. The increase in statistics is explained by the lack of the right to terminate pregnancy due to the so-called embryopathological. However, as he stipulates, there are more reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic and worsening maternal health.
The disturbing statistics are also connected with the verdict of the Constitutional Tribunal by dr Grzegorz Świercz and dr hab. Ewa Helwich. “In previous years these pregnancies were terminated. The fetuses had lethal defects as shown by prenatal examinations. But now nobody in the hospital does it »- points out Dr. Świercz.
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«2021, in which we have an upward trend, this is the first year of operation under the new regulations, when the embryopathological premise ceased to apply. Previously, based on it, it was possible to perform an abortion. If it still existed, some of these children probably – technically speaking – would not be included in the statistics, because they would not be born. Now they are born and they die very quickly. The difference is that before 2021, women had a choice and could give birth to a child with a lethal defect, if they felt ready for it, »adds the national consultant in the field of neonatology.
As the newspaper points out, «some of the interviewees quietly say that women who induce pharmacological miscarriages at home go to hospitals. And pro-abortion organizations keep repeating that in case of any health doubts, a woman has the right to receive medical assistance in the hospital after taking the pills ».