According to the centralized data from the Department for Child’s Protection in the Ministry of Labor, Family, Social Protection and Elderly, 1,474 children have been abandoned by their families in maternities, pediatric wards or other hospital wards during January – December 2013.
Almost 1,500 children have been left in maternities or other medical units in the year 2012, the number is growing comparing with 2011 and 2010, when the rate is 1,432, respectively 1,315 cases, according to the Ministry of Labor, Family and Social Protection.
Out of the total of abandonment cases recorded last year, more than half of them have been reported in the maternities. Thus, 918 infants have been abandoned by their mothers immediately after their birth, 426 have been left in the pediatric wards and 130 in other hospital wards.
According to the cited source, 1,240 of the children have been released, 486 of which return to their families, 12 were placed into their extended families, 33 were placed into a family or individuals, 563 to caregivers, 56 in the orphanages, 35 in the emergency centers, 55 in other situations.
The number of abandoned children in 2013 is growing when compared with the number recorded in 2010. Then, the national records were up to 1,400 cases.
Touched Romania was founded to help prevent the children abandonment and to help the mothers in difficult situations, giving them financial and moral support.