EveryChild
4 Bath Place
Rivington Street
London
EC2A 3DR
T +44 (0)20 7749 2468
F +44 (0)20 7729 8339
A little support goes a long way
On 28th August, EveryChild opened a new parent and baby unit in Ungheni, Moldova. The unit will provide temporary shelter, psychological and social support for up to five families at any one time.
Moldova is Europe’s poorest country and with no one or nowhere to turn too many parents in desperate situations make the decision to hand over their babies to the state institutions. Over 95% of all children in institutional care in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are not orphans. EveryChild believe institutional care can never replace the love of a family and this love is a vital part of a child’s emotional development.
EveryChild have found that with just a small amount of intervention, parents finding themselves in this situation can be persuaded not to part with their children. The Ungheni Parent & Baby Unit will provide the initial support to very vulnerable parents that otherwise would not be there during the first weeks of a babies life. Once they leave the centre, the bond between parents and their babies is much stronger. The parents are found a place to live and the means to support themselves and their children.
As EveryChild Country Director for Moldova Stela Grigoras says “We see many vulnerable couples who feel they do not have the finance or ability to care for their children. Parent and baby units give them the time and space to adjust to parenthood at precisely the right time they need this support. A little intervention at this stage can mean the difference between a child being bought up by loving parents or spending the next 18 years in an institution”