Japan to study ways to help more pregnant women in danger
The Children and Families Agency will examine ways to help more pregnant women under difficult conditions, such as abuse and poverty, benefit from its program to provide them with a safe childbirth environment.
The program was launched in fiscal 2024 to prevent life-threatening situations for struggling women and their babies. As of January this year, 23 prefectural and municipal governments had taken part and offered temporary housing, meals, medical services and other necessary assistance through individual consultations.
Assistance seekers include youngsters who ran away from home due to bad relations with their parents, or other guardians, and those fleeing their partners' violence, agency officials said.
Still, some women who unexpectedly got pregnant have been taken to hospitals in critical conditions, had their children die shortly after delivery, or killed their newborn babies and themselves.
In a move to further prevent childbirths with a high possibility of negative outcomes, the agency will conduct a survey from next month to around the end of the current fiscal year through March 2026. It will first learn the roles that infant homes and support facilities are actually playing in the program and then, upon their consent, hear directly from women who eventually became eligible for the public support.
The survey results will provide the basis for subsequent discussions on how to improve the knowledge of relevant local government officials and medical professionals about the program so they can recommend appropriate assistance measures for expectant mothers in trouble.
"I think we can help more pregnant women on the edge of a precipice if we learn their life experiences and explain the process of how some such women became able to receive assistance," an agency official in charge of the program said.
The agency also aims to improve the program and bring more local governments on board.
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