Children: ‘Common concern’ of mankind

Research has shown that babies in the womb are being exposed to cocktails of toxic chemicals and that their blood is swimming with dangerous compounds found in everyday household cleaners, perfumes and even pans and furniture. This is affecting the climate for the unborn child in the womb.

The Scotsman reported not so long ago that at least 600 Scottish babies a year are judged to be at risk of abuse before they are even born and that official figures reveal that in 2007, 331 unborn babies were placed on the official child protection register, many of them because of their mother’s drink or drug problem.

This was revealed during the seminar Caring For The Unborn Child held lately by the Malta Unborn Child Movement (MUCM) and the Swedish Embassy in Malta.

It is known that drugs, alcohol and tobacco adversely affect the development of the unborn child at each month of pregnancy. There are indications that an undisclosed number of unborn children in Malta and Gozo are suffering physical and psychological harm because of the consumption of drugs, alcohol and tobacco by their parents, in marriage and outside of it, during, or before, pregnancy. Unfortunately, official local statistics do not show these facts clearly, especially in connection with alcohol or tobacco.

There are fears, also, that would-be mothers and pregnant women are being exposed to chemical and toxic substances in their own families and on the places of work with great harm to mothers, fathers and their unborn children.

Ulla Gudmundson, Ambassador of Sweden to Malta, expressed her keen interest to be working on this issue in Malta and said we all need to work together on issues that are similar in Malta and Sweden. She added we have to address these needs in the context of the different cultures, not least where traditional alcohol intake is one of the problems.

Rita Borg Xuereb, head of the Department of Midwifery of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Malta, while relating her study on the fertility rate in Malta, on fathers’ attitudes to the unborn child, single parenthood, emotional well-being, work-life balance and the need to care for the environment, appealed to all to improve upon the way they care for the unborn child in the womb.

In this respect it is known also that the process of bonding with the unborn child secures a closer attachment with the baby which makes him/her recognise the parents’ voice before the child is even born.

Music playing or singing, in fact, are known to provide healthy stimulation for the development of the unborn child and is linked with making the baby smarter in language skills. This also affects, this time positively, the climate for the unborn child in the womb.

Lately, new pro-life group, Professionals Against the Freezing of Embryos, declared they are against the destruction of human life at all levels. PAEF says that science strongly supports the pro-life position in confirming that the zygote, the embryo or foetus is a human being with its own distinct genetic code. They add: How can we say we are pro-life if we want to freeze life?

In this scenario, and on the occasion of Pro-Life Day, which will be celebrated on Sunday at 11 a.m. at St John’s Co-Cathedral and the Oratory (of Caravaggio fame), MUCM suggests an opportunity is arising for Malta to again take the initiative in the workings of international bodies and initiatives dedicated to the welfare of children. This to proclaim before the member states of the EU and the world community that “all men are created equal” and that all unborn children – 200 million every year worldwide, including 4,000 in Malta, the common beginners in all mankind and “created equal” everywhere – should be considered the “common concern of all mankind” and that their dignity, rights, protection, care and development should be the common moral, legal and political responsibility of the world community... in word... on paper... and in deed... everywhere.

On Sunday, Kate Gonzi and Michelle Muscat will deliver the main speeches at the Celebration of Life.