Spain ‘could improve expats’ childbirth education’

8 May 2007

MADRID – Spain is one of the top ten countries in which to have a child, according to a report published on Tuesday by Save the Children.

The charity put Spain in ninth place in terms of having a child and care for newborns.

Sweden heads the list, followed by Iceland and Norway. The worst nation, in a list of 140, was Niger.

In fact, the bottom ten in the Save the Children list were all from sub-Saharan Africa.

But the report does makes some criticisms of Spain, saying it could improve the service particularly by giving expats more access to information regarding childbirth.

It could also improve information about contraceptives and family planning.

It says the high number of stillbirths among immigrants (30 in every 1,000 people) was testament to this.  The figure is five times that of Spaniards (five per 1,000 people).

The report also says half abortions practiced in Spain are on immigrants.

Fifteen percent of mothers are immigrants.

But the highest infant mortality figures are seen in Ceuta and Melilla – the Spanish enclaves in north Africa.

The figure is between 10.8 and 9.5 deaths per thousand, while in Navarre it is 2.6pc.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news