The birth of a child is one of the most beautiful events in life. At the same time parents tend to forget those who make it all happen: midwives and gynecologists. In Bulgaria, on January 21^st these people have been celebrating their professional holiday ever since 1951. However, when and where did it all start? The answer is – in ancient Egypt, where an order was issued for all the newly born boys to be killed. Still, midwives refused to obey and assisted at births. That is why the people honored and worshipped them for saving entire clans.

We meet you with National Consultant in Midwifery and Gynecology Prof. Viktor Zlatkov in an interview for Radio Bulgaria. He gave us the real number of births over the past year:

‘There is no significant difference, compared to the previous year. The “Maichin Dom” hospital (Mother’s house) is still the leader. A total of 4,066 children were born last year on 3,971 in 2015. Media comments on decline in birth rates are not quite true, as the difference on an annual basis is 600 – 700 newly born which is normal. Registration across the country shows 61,764 babies for 2015 and 61,100 over the last year. We need to take into consideration the fact that there are delayed registrations in many hospitals due to paid leaves, flu epidemic, etc. The second factor is that many Bulgarians born abroad are registered end-February or early March for their national ID number. To sum up, we have almost the same numbers as in 2015…’

As far as the ‘kids give birth to kids’ phenomenon which makes the society quite sensitive, he also has an explanation:

‘I can only say that this phenomenon has always existed. For nearly 40 years of service I have assisted an 11-year-old mother and a 48-year-old woman and both cases were in the years of communism. The phenomenon is not new, but the society is doubtlessly more sensitive to it now. It has several dimensions. One of them is related to the ethnic and typical features of a certain group of people who find early marriages as something normal – in Bulgaria these are the Roma people, but it is something typical for southern nations as a whole. In any case there are unwanted pregnancies due to poor knowledge of contraception and on third place we see some families with more patriarchal values. Sometimes the will to overcome such restrictions results in mistakes which can be even fatal in a family that is not ready to take care of such a child. The problem has many sides, but we cannot support such a phenomenon, as the body of a child is not prepared to face such a challenge as giving birth.’

There is nothing wrong with early pregnancies, as far as the parents are capable of providing normal conditions for a child to grow happy, calm and loved. Kids shouldn’t be viewed as a source of social benefits only. They mean happiness, but also serious responsibility. Think of your own future, but also of theirs. In the meantime, do not only thank midwives today for the joy they have given to you, but also hug them, as February 21 is also the National Hugging Day.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev